Considerations and justification for the development of procedures (3) Series of parts

Part 2

From the employer’s point of view, there are several reasons why written procedures are important:

• Help define, clarify, and develop consistency in safe work practices.

• They provide a basis from which to measure the practices/processes carried out by workers.

• If things go wrong or incidents occur, they are a basis for analyzing work processes to see if process changes are needed or if incidents may have been caused by workers not following safe work practices.

The above analysis leads to remedies. For example, the solution may be additional training, improved procedures, increased supervision, additional staff, equipment maintenance, or personal protective equipment. In some cases, discipline may be part of the solution if it is determined that the worker knowingly or intentionally chose not to follow safe work procedures.

The most effective way to develop and implement procedures is to obtain input from personnel directly involved in a given function. In many cases, staff will already have established very effective ways of handling situations based on their experience. When this is the case, developing procedures can be a simple matter of getting these processes in writing so that they can be easily passed on to others.

The goal of best practice is to identify aspects of the job that can be systematized and thus increase consistency in how certain tasks are carried out, rather than leaving them to the best judgment of staff based solely on experience. transmitted from one worker to another. .

Appropriate workplace violence prevention training should support such best practices and should be delivered consistently within the framework of agreed best practices rather than being delivered based on an individual worker’s interpretation based on their assumed experience and skills.