As you know by now, I am a doer, and as a safety professional, I grew up in organizations with some advanced SMS. Then the tides turned, and I was hired to come in and build an SMS and coach on building a culture of safety. Now, as a consultant, I spend a lot of time working with organizations to strengthen/build a process safety management (PSM) system or an Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) management system. But there is one (1) thing both types of SMSs have in common…
IDENTIFICATION of HAZARDS
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ANALYZE those HAZARDS with a recognized methodology
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ASSESS the RISKS those HAZARDS pose to people/assets/business
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MITIGATE those RISKS down to a tolerable level (remember there is no world where risks = 0)
But to be successful in these core functions of an SMS, management MUST be able to recognize the difference between a HAZARD and RISK:
