Page 113 - IGC BOOK

4.1 Active and Reactive Monitoring

Introduction to Active and Reactive Monitoring

We should monitor health and Safety as how an organisation
monitors other aspects of the business.
The primary purpose of measuring health and safety performance
is to provide information on the progress and status of the
strategies, processes and activities used by an organisation to
control risks to health and safety.

Measurement information sustains the operation and
development of the health and safety management system, and
so the control of risk by.

• providing information on how the system operates in practice
• identifying areas where remedial action is required
• providing a basis for continual improvement
• providing feedback and motivation

There are different types of monitoring but categorised under two major categories:

Active Monitoring Gathering information before an event, involves inspections, audit, safety
survey and put things right to prevent accident happening.

For example
Monitor the design, development, installation, and operation of management arrangements.
These are preventive in nature, for example:

• routine inspections of premises, plant, and equipment by staff
• health surveillance to prevent harm to health
• planned function check regimes for key pieces of plant.

Reactive Monitoring Gathering information followed by an event, to find out the reasons for
failure in the systems, usually lessons learnt from mistakes. If an organisation needs to improve
their performance, they need to monitor both the performances.

For example
monitor evidence of poor health and safety practice but can also identify better practices that
may be transferred to other parts of a business, for example:

• investigating accidents and incidents
• monitoring cases of ill health and sickness absence records

ENSIGN | Unit IG1 – Element 4 – Health and Safety Monitoring and Measuring 1