Published 19 Oct 2023
What is a Safety Management Plan?
A safety management plan is a document that aims to specify and outline the specific safety procedures and arrangements necessary for a project or activity. It is a major aspect of maintaining a safety management system as it helps outline responsibilities, objectives, emergency response plans, and communication channels.
In this article
- Importance and Benefits
- What to Include in a Safety Management Plan
- FAQs about Safety Management Plans
- Create and Implement an Efficient Safety Management Plan with SafetyCulture
- Related Safety Management Plans
Importance and Benefits
A safety management plan serves as the cornerstone of any organization’s commitment to safety. It outlines the strategies, protocols, and procedures to follow to safeguard employees, assets, and the environment. Specifically, it aims to help with the following:
- Enhancing workplace safety and reducing injuries and illnesses
- Ensuring regulatory compliance with internal and legal safety requirements
- Identifying hazards and threats to employee safety
- Mitigating risks and addressing them
- Reporting and documenting incidents, hazards, and risks
Having a safety management plan can also help streamline and improve operations and organizational management. As it outlines all safety procedures, it can also help in designating necessary point persons in case of emergencies, as well as the roles and responsibilities of each one.
What to Include in a Safety Management Plan
Different organizations have different safety procedures to follow. However, a typical safety management plan contains fields for the following:
- Name of person preparing the plan and their personnel
- Management responsibilities
- Communication channels to use
- Risk management practices such as:
- Enforcing and implementing emergency procedures
- Presence of Job Hazard Analysis (JHA) sheets
- Observing for hazards present and identifying the mitigation measures for them
- Observed safety breaches, if any
- Additional notes and recommendations
- Sign off
Here is a sample safety management plan in use for reference:
FAQs about Safety Management Plans
A safety management plan is often used for construction and manufacturing, but it can come in different forms for different industries. Some of the most common uses include the following:
- Managing food safety
- Conducting risk assessments in hospitals, laboratories, and the like
- Ensuring immediate environment is safe for use and safe to all
A safety management system helps direct the framework for safety management as a whole in an organization. On the other hand, a safety management plan is more specific and is best suited for teams and groups. They often work together as they both aim to improve workplace safety.
Typically, it is the business owner’s, principal contractor’s, or manager’s responsibility to manage a safety management plan. However, in some cases, there can be dedicated safety personnel for the job. Team leaders are also involved in the process.
Create and Implement an Efficient Safety Management Plan with SafetyCulture
Having a safety management plan is essential for all workplaces, and the best way to have one is with the use of a digital platform. By going digital, you can save time on managing paperwork and sorting and distributing them to your workers, making it easier to focus on things that matter.
One digital solution that can help you is SafetyCulture (formerly iAuditor), a mobile-ready auditing and operations platform. With SafetyCulture’s range of safety management plan templates in the Public Library, you are sure to find the right one for your needs. Each safety management plan template can be edited as you see fit, then replicate and use as many times as you need. You also have the option to create your own from scratch or upload existing ones for SafetyCulture use. All plans and reports will then be stored in the cloud for easy access anytime and anywhere, along with modifiable access controls for each file to ensure privacy.
Additionally, you can also do the following:
- Raise issues spotted during safety inspections and create corrective actions for them
- Communicate with your organization or team altogether with a Heads Up
- Train staff on proper safety procedures to follow
- Monitor assets to be used and ensure they are in safe working order
- Read sensor data and integrate them into your plans when inspecting worksites
- Keep track of lone workers on-site with SHEQSY by SafetyCulture
- View data at a glance with Analytics
- Share your plans by exporting them in PDF, Word, Excel, and Weblink formats
Related Safety Management Plans
Monthly Construction Site Safety Management Checklist
Conduct monthly safety inspection site visits with this checklist to ensure your construction site and project are proceeding safely and smoothly. Keep track of compliances and hazards spotted in one place.
Process Safety Management Checklist
This process safety management checklist is a brief overview of the 14 PSM elements. It can be used by chemical safety managers to evaluate if a site or organization is ready for developing a PSM program.
