Introduction to Health and Safety at Work

Plan
– establish standards for health and safety manage-
ment based on risk assessment and legal requirements
Do
– implement plans to achieve objectives and 
standards
Check
– measure progress with plans and compliance 
with standards
Act
– review against objectives and standards and take 
appropriate action.
The 
Plan-Do-Check-Act
for occupational health and 
safety management forms the basis of the three occu-
pational health and safety management systems HSG 
65, OHSAS 18001 and ILO-OSH 2001.
18.3.2 HSG 65
The UK HSE fi rst published ‘Successful health and safety 
management – HSG 65’ in 1991 and has amended it since 
then so that it is now more concerned with continual 
improvement and less with the attainment of minimum 
health and safety standards. Unlike the other two systems 

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International aspects of health and safety
407
under consideration, HSG 65 was developed by a regula-
tor (HSE) and, therefore, is much more widely recognized 
in the United Kingdom. Although HSE inspectors may use 
the framework of HSG 65 when auditing the health and 
safety management arrangements of an organization, it 
would be wrong, however, to assume that it is the only 
system recognized by the HSE.
HSG 65 is shown in Figure 18.1. An outline of the 
fi ve key elements of HSG 65 was given in Chapter 1 and 
is given in more detail here. The key elements are:
1. 
A clear health and safety policy
– Evidence shows 
that a well-considered policy contributes to busi-
ness effi ciency and continual improvement through-
out the organization. It helps to minimize fi nancial 
losses arising from avoidable accidents and dem-
onstrates to the workforce that accidents are not 
necessarily the fault of any individual member of the 
workforce. Such a management attitude could lead 
to an increase in workforce cooperation, job satis-
faction and productivity. This demonstration of 
senior management involvement offers evidence to 
all stakeholders that responsibilities to people and 
the environment are taken seriously by the organiza-
tion. A good health and safety policy helps to ensure 
that there is a systematic approach to risk assess-
ment and suffi cient resources, in terms of people 
and money, have been allocated to protect the 
health and safety and welfare of the workforce. It 
can also support quality improvement programmes 
which are aimed at continual improvement.
2.