Posted By Kelvin Hughes Mark I have E mailed you direct. Regards Kelvin

Posted By Sean Fraser A zero accident policy needs to be supported by a pro-active management system and some means of ensuring the right attitudal behaviour is encouraged. Pro-active - nice words, but what does it mean in practice? Education and training. And not just in H&S - everything. By understanding what they do, people understand why they do it that way and more importantly, how it can be done better and safer. I could go on for hours on this, ad naseum, so I won't bother. I'd be happy to pntificate in email though if you want more thoughts on the subject. And safe bahaviours? You could look at implementing a Safety Observation System like the DuPont STOP (Safety Training and Observation Programme). This has the dual benefit of recording unsafe situations and encouraging safer bahaviour through understanding. Like all things though, it is not a magic bullet and is only as good as the way it is set up and the commitment all the way through the organisation. For a general grounding on SOS, try the following documents on the Step Change website - "Changing Minds" and "Look this way - Safety Observation System Guidelines" as a starter: http://step.steel-sci.or...main_publications_fs.htm There is little point in establishing a policy that sounds good - the actions WILL need to match the words. As for a strategy, I would commend either HSG65, OHSAS18001 or BS8800 as references for establishing an effective Safety Management System. A thorough review of where you are now is a start, and can be used as a basis for a gap analysis in which to identify shortcomings or weaknesses, then work on strengthening the whole thing and subsequently seeking continual improvement. And it all starts with openess, honesty and trust!

Posted By Nigel Hammond Why would any organisation aim for zero accidents? I am all in favour of good H&S management systems and fostering a positive H&S culture but I'm not sure if zero accidents is a good thing. Taking risks is part of life and can be very enabling. How do you get to work without risk of being killed on the roads or rail? I'm not saying we shouldn't review accident figures, set targets and find ways of to continuously improve, but I am not sure I would want to be in a world with zero accidents. That world would have to be made completely our of cotton wool and would be very borring!

Posted By Merv Newman Zero accidents is quite attainable, but it takes some time to get there. We tend to advise our clients to go for 50% reduction in accident objectives year by year so as to trend towards the eventual objective of zero. We start by implementing systems of safety management as in OHSAS 18001 and then implement behavioural based safety (BBS)programmes at management and workforce levels. We have found that the classic methods of identifying and correcting unsafe acts and unsafe situations (as in STOP) are not 100% effective unless the overall safety culture is already in place (DuPont) BBS means first defining safe behaviours then recognising, rewarding and reinforcing people and groups which adopt those behaviours. Works like a charm and is much more fun. Don't kick em if they are bad ; stroke them when they are good. Merv Newman