Health and Safety Management Systems Interfacing

The purpose of establishing Safety Management Systems Interfacing Arrangements is to ensure that standards of health and safety achieved by one organisation are not compromised by other organisations, whilst undertaking shared activities.

The objective of developing and implementing interface arrangements between organisations that share activities is to ensure that effective health and safety management is achieved throughout the project. Interface arrangements should apply to all types of projects, from long duration extensive work, to shorter more confined work scope projects.

The following principles should apply to interfacing arrangements:

• Each party controls its own Safety Management System (SMS) and should remain accountable for its implementation.
• Arrangements for the management of risks during the combined operations should be agreed and documented.
• Consultation and agreement are the key aspects to achieving successful interfacing arrangements.
• The imposition of one SMS upon another organisations SMS should never be undertaken.
• Interface arrangements should never be viewed as a one-off task. Instead, throughout the project, arrangements should be continually reviewed and kept up to date.
• Interface documents should remain "live" working documents throughout the life of the project.

The process of interfacing:

The following components should be included in project interface arrangements:

• Policy objectives
• Responsibilities for health and safety
• Structure and accountabilities of the organisation
• Competence of the workforce
• Method of analysing and assessing risks
• Method of controlling risks
• Change management
• Control of third parties
• Control in the event of emergencies
• Occupational health
• Proactive and reactive monitoring
• Incident investigation · Review and auditing

If you would like further details of the requirements to have suitable interface arrangements, or would like to discuss the development of interface arrangements for a specific project, please contact us.