DASH - Director Action on Safety and Health
Measuring and Reporting on Corporate Health and Safety Performance
Progress and Feedback
Raising understanding
This report is founded on the assumption that a stronger focus on OS&H performance measurement coupled with improved reporting on corporate OS&H performance to stakeholders will help to raise understanding of OS&H as a strategic business objective, particularly among board level directors.
In many respects OS&H performance measurement is still in its infancy compared with other business measurement disciplines. At present sadly, many businesses still do not seek to measure OS&H performance at all. For them, any attempt to measure in order to assess problems, priorities, areas for action and resulting change will be a step forward. Nevertheless for those businesses which do already seek to measure OS&H performance at a corporate level, there is a need to continue to develop more robust approaches and to explore options for reporting on such performance to key audiences.
A broad approach
In this report the Society has sought to give guidance and set out a broad approach, taking account of the balance of views expressed during consultation. While the Society has begun to form its own views at a number of points, it does not want to be overly prescriptive but to encourage organisations, and in particular their senior directors, to focus on key questions around which debate can be encouraged. The important thing is that approaches adopted to measurement of and reporting on performance should be appropriate to the circumstances and needs of each organisation and should actually help in achieving the overall objective which must be to reduce error, injury, health damage and economic loss.
Ways forward?
RoSPA would like to receive further views on steps that can be taken to promote best practice in OS&H performance measurement and reporting. Possible options include:
- a critical review of the reports of the FTSE 350 and public bodies for 2002;
- a focus on reporting in existing benchmarking schemes;
- a continuing review of approaches to auditing, culture measurement and certification;
- alignment of OS&H performance awards with the ‘holistic’ approach;
- institution of new awards specifically for excellence in reporting;
- training for appointed company financial and OS&H auditors;
- coverage in business education syllabi and continuing professional development; and
- a special conference in 2003 to assess progress and to identify options for promoting best practice.
Comments
The Society would welcome comments on issues raised here. These should be addressed to Roger Bibbings, Occupational Safety Adviser, Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents, Edgbaston Park, 353, Bristol Road, Birmingham B5 7ST (Email rbibbings@rospa.com Tel 0121 248 2095 Fax 0121 248 2001).
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RoSPA is a registered charity: Registered Charity No: 207823 Patron: Her Majesty the Queen RoSPA Head Office: Edgbaston Park, 353 Bristol Road, Edgbaston, Birmingham B5 7ST, UK |
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