SANS 3000-1:2009 - Railway Safety Regulator

SANS 3000-1:2009Edition 2Annex B(informative)Guidance on the preparation of a safety policy statementB.1 A safety policy is a concise statement that sets out an organization’s safety philosophy,including railway aspects, and that guides the establishment of goals and objectives, policies,procedures and programmes.B.2 Experience has shown that there is a strong correlation between companies with low accidentrates and companies whose senior management are concerned with safety and communicate thisconcern to employees. To maximize the effect of the commitment in order to manage safety, thesafety policy should be approved at the highest possible level of the company.B.3 The major challenge that faces organizations, especially large ones, is to enable andencourage diverse groups of staff to direct their best contributions towards the goals of theorganizations. This implies, amongst other things, the need for involvement and ownership withinand between departments, groups, divisions and employees. If all the interested parties are notinvolved it is impossible to engender the sense of ownership.B.4 The policy statement should include the following:a) a general statement that reflects the organization’s commitment to safety principles andpractices;b) a demonstration of senior management’s commitment to safety and of where the safetyresponsibilities and accountabilities lie;c) a commitment to make resources available in order to achieve the objectives of the safetypolicy;d) a declaration of the organization’s safety philosophy and guidance for the establishment of goalsand objectives, policies, procedures and programmes, which will contribute to the enhancementof business performance; ande) a directive that all employees shall be involved in achieving the safety policy objectives.B.5 International best practice regarding the development of a safety policy indicates thata) the policy is integrated to comply with other applicable legislation,b) references to safety training are included,c) safety is monitored at all levels,d) the safety policy is periodically reviewed and revised, ande) the objectives of the safety policy are practicable and realistically achievable.44