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1  The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) defines a safety manage- ment system (SMS) as an organized approach to manage and reduce safety and health hazards. Safety management systems have been shown to greatly reduce the number and severity of work-related incidents by allowing for proactive management. This National Cooperative Highway Research Program synthesis project explored issues related to the process to implement and use SMSs to manage maintenance worker safety throughout the United States. An electronic survey was created and distributed to members of the AASHTO Committee on Maintenance and the North American Association of Transportation Safety & Health Officials (NAATSHO). A total of 41 completed responses were received across 41 different departments of transportation (DOTs). Subsequent case example interviews were conducted with five state DOTs to gather additional details. The key findings were in regard to the type of SMS used, the data collected, the approach to data management, reporting features used, SMS costs, implemented policies and procedures, and organizational structure impact on safety. ⢠Type of system or mechanism used: The survey indicated 49% (Figure 3.6) of the respon- dents noted using an in-house developed system; the other options were a commercial system or none at all. The case examples illustrated that all of these approaches have benefits and challenges. ⢠Data collected by SMS: The survey respondents with SMSs indicated they were used for collecting incident occurrences with 65% (Figure 3.9) of those using the system for incident investigations. Other significant uses were seen in collecting near misses (42%) and training records (39%) (Figure 3.9). ⢠Approach to data management: Most (70%) SMSs are web-based (Figure 3.10). There are efficiency gains to be realized where the SMS is integrated with personnel and train- ing systems. However, this also presents challenges in data security and protection of personally identifying information. ⢠Reporting features: Survey respondents noted several internal and external reporting functions of the SMSs including incident investigation reports (65%), workersâ com- pensation reports (62%), OSHA 300 logs (54%), training records (39%), and behavior observation reports (15%) (Figure 3.13). Other reporting mentioned included monthly property damage and injury data, incident counts by location, safety huddle reports, fleet safety records, job safety analyses (JSAs), and accident code trending. ⢠SMS cost: Cost data was often not specifically noted. However, for those state DOTs using SMSs, neither cost to acquire the system nor cost to manage the system were noted as significant challenges (Figure 3.18). It is noteworthy that cost was only noted as a significant challenge to those not currently using SMSs (Figure 3.33). S U M M A R Y Use of Safety Management Systems in Managing Highway Maintenance Worker Safety
2 Use of Safety Management Systems in Managing Highway Maintenance Worker Safety ⢠Policies and procedures: Written policies and procedures around the use of SMSs trended toward being a need for development. Survey respondents noted that many (44%) had no policy documented for the use of SMS (Figure 3.20). Where there was documentation, it was largely procedures for roles and responsibilities in data entry and reporting and not policy. ⢠Organizational structure impact: Organizational structure was noted during several of the case interviews as a strength within the safety programs (Chapter 4). The most expe- rienced DOTs noted the importance of occupational safety being a separate and unique division, as opposed to being contained within human resources or another business unit. Also noted was a need for a close organizational relationship with executive leadership, which provides an indication of safety as a core value. ⢠Gaps/research needs: Based on the survey and case examples, research to understand the benefits and challenges of in-house versus commercial SMS would help DOTs in their decision-making process. Also, investigating formal policies, procedures, and guidance for adopting and using SMSs as well as a cost-benefit analysis would be valuable. An introduction to SMSs and the methodology used in the study is presented in Chapter 1. A literature review on SMSs and safety practices for highway maintenance workers is dis- cussed in Chapter 2. Results of the national survey are presented in Chapter 3. Specific case example interviews are detailed in Chapter 4. A summary of findings from the study is outlined in Chapter 5, with references and three appendices following.
