What is Health, Safety and Environment?
Health, safety and environment (HSE) involves creating procedures for identifying workplace hazards, reducing accidents and exposure to harmful situations and substances. It also includes training of personnel in accident prevention, accident response, emergency preparedness, and use of protective clothing and equipment.
HSE came to prominence following the establishment of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration and National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health in 1970. In response to the increasing number and severity of occupational injuries and illnesses, interest in HSE continued to grow 1980s and beyond. Regulatory requirements play an important role in HSE, and legislation to ensure health and safety in the workplace continues to evolve.
What is HSE Compliance?
HSE compliance refers to laws, rules, regulations, procedures, programs, roles, and policies established to help protect the health and safety of employees, the public, and the environment from hazards and dangers. Legislation governing health and safety can be federal, state, county or industry mandated, and continues to be updated as more information on hazards becomes available.
By preventing workplace injuries, your organization can avoid paying fines and workers’ compensation, and employees who feel like their safety is a priority will also be more likely to stay with company.
Why is HSE Necessary?
Prioritizing HSE within the workplace can ensure employees are safe and avoid injuries. HSE can improve the well-being of both your employees and organization through professional development as HSE allows companies to implement a positive workplace culture that fosters safety, health and wellness.
Compliance with HSE regulations may seem unnecessary; however, failure to comply with regulatory bodies may result in a specific event or series of events which lead to losses to both your business and overall brand. Preventing accidents and illnesses in the workplace as a priority is an effective way to reduce costs and increase enjoyment.
HSE Best Practices
Generally, HSE is responsible for the prevention of accidents and incidents that may result during business operations and aims to decrease the harmful effects that could result from normal operating conditions. HSE best practices involve the following areas:
- Safety culture: A strong and intrinsic safety culture can have a significant impact on your organization. This can be accomplished by implementing incident reporting and emphasizing the importance of safety among your team.
- Safety Management: Identifying potential hazards is the first step to preventing workplace accidents. HSE requires the implementation of proactive worker hazard identification and prevention programs. By approaching possible hazardous conditions and situations proactively, you can analyze your HSE safety incident data and identify factors that could lead to future incidents.
- Safety performance measurement: In a work environment, the goal of measuring safety performance is to mitigate unsafe conditions and behaviors that can lead to accidents. Performance measurements usually involve proactive or reactive monitoring. Proactive monitoring includes providing feedback on performance prior to an incident, and reactive monitoring involves identifying and reporting incidents when they occur.
- Safety data collection and sharing: Collection and analysis of safety data will help your company discover the root cause of an event and the review of potential and existing hazards can lead to improved HSE safety programs on an ongoing basis.
Regulations to Follow
In the workplace, health, safety and environment are top priorities because of their importance in preventing illness and injuries – particularly in high-risk industries. To avoid the pitfalls that come from irreversible accidents, it’s essential to develop and execute an effective workplace management system for health and safety.
Regulations that apply to your business are updated frequently and may change due to both regulatory action or business operations (disease outbreak or a new or unfamiliar technology). Seeking support with organizing regulatory updates, can ensure your business remains current and compliant.
Contact RHP Risk Management for Help with Workplace Compliance Regulations
At RHP Risk Management, we specialize in Industrial Hygiene and Occupational Safety. We evaluate exposures to vapors, chemicals, noise, biological contaminants and hazardous materials in our Exposure Simulation Laboratory and in your workplace. Our occupational health specialists, Certified Industrial Hygienists, and Certified Safety Professionals are experts in evaluating risks, measuring exposures, identifying hazards and formulating solutions that are legally defensible and rooted in reliable scientific methods.
Our reputation for quality service and responsiveness offers our clients peace of mind. Contact us at RHP Risk Management (773) 867-6010 to learn more about our services for environmental health and safety.