Real business improvement from integrated management systems

Having integrated management systems in your business will provide you with the tools to manage effectively. If you have more than one system, confusion and duplication occur unless these are integrated. The risk management approach in internationally recognized standards caters very well for this integration which can and should be consistent across all areas of the business.

Environmental management (ISO 14001), occupational health and safety, quality management food safety or HACCP and financial management can very readily be integrated. All the systems are risk based and suggest a consistent risk management tool within a business. Quality can be an exception because the risk based approach is optional. In the new carbon constrained economy the business can also include its accounting for its carbon footprint as part of its environmental sustainability.

What is crucial to making an integrated system work effectively is having straightforward procedures that are process based and cover all risks with a single reporting mechanism for the initial report of incidents, near misses and suggestions. Workers easily become confused by too many forms and instructions and then ignore them. Workers can find that having separate stand alone systems in very confusing and may even pu tthem in a position of being presented with conflicting instruction.

During the implementation phase you do need to separate your decision making about different activities because the risk of environmental harm from a single activity many be very different from the occupational safety risk of the same activity. An example in the agribusiness field would be the use of hydrogen peroxide which breaks down readily to form water and oxygen. This is approved for use in organic farming indicating that it is environmentally safe. However from an occupations health and safety viewpoint it is a very hazardous liquid because it breaks down too easily and can extremely dangerous for personnel to handle in larger quantities.

Where there is a difference in risk assessment as in the example given, the highest risk is the one that needs to be controlled using a combination of instructions, training, checklists, maintenance, equipment and contingency planning.

One of the biggest pitfalls for a business with a fully integrated management system can be inflexible Government inspectors from organizations like the national quarantine inspection service, the work place safety inspectors and the environment protection authority who only want to see their own issue and have no real concern about the effective operation of the business outside their narrow tunnel. The pressure that these people assert needs to be resisted without alienating them because they are present for only a few days and are not the people with the responsibility for managing the business and making a profit so that the business remains sustainable. Separating the varying incident reports into separate files usually appeases inspectors who need only look at their own area. There are also real business benefits from this separation because it is easy to analyze problem areas and build in continual improvement.

A fully integrated management system is simply the way that the organization does business and it is hard to see how a mix of management systems can be truly effective if they are not integrated.