Royal Mail Group (RMG) Safety Health & Environment (SHE) Standard 18.1 & Guidance “Health & Safety Audit Programmes & Compliance Reporting” – 2016/17 Completed Health & Safety Audits:

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Royal Mail Group (RMG) Safety Health & Environment (SHE) Standard 18.1 & Guidance “Health & Safety Audit Programmes & Compliance Reporting” – 2016/17 Completed Health & Safety Audits:

No. 146/2017

9 March 2017

Our Ref: C1/17

Royal Mail Group (RMG) Safety Health & Environment (SHE) Standard 18.1 & Guidance “Health & Safety Audit Programmes & Compliance Reporting” – 2016/17 Completed Health & Safety Audits:

To: All Postal Branches

Regional Health & Safety Forums

All Area Health and Safety Representatives

Dear Colleagues,

See attached for the information of Area Safety Reps and Workplace Safety Reps in Royal Mail Group, the findings of the most recent 2016/17 Health and Safety Audit programme completed so far, up to 9th January 2017. The attached SHEMS audit summary document summarises findings which will be used by the RMG SHE Team in the health and safety planning process in August/September. The attached summary document gives a detailed analysis of the results of the programme so far in the following way:

Number of audits competed by Region and Business Unit.
Audit scores by Region.
Audit score by SHEMS element.
Audit score by SHEMS standard. (SHEMS = Safety Health & Environment Management Standard).
Also attached for your information is:-

RMG SHE Standard 18.1 entitled “Health & Safety Audit Programmes & Compliance Reporting”
RMG SHE Standard 18.1 Guidance
RMG SHE Standard 18.1 sets out the arrangements for auditing the effective deployment of the RMG Safety Health and Environment Policies, Standards and Procedures.

The Auditing Standard includes all parts of Royal Mail Group e.g. RM Operations, Logistics, Parcelforce, RM International, RM Specialist Services (RMSS), Customer Services, Sales etc. Support functions are also included e.g. RM Property, Engineering, Programmes, Assets, HR and Finance etc.

The approach is based not only on an evaluation of Safety programmes, compliance and risk management but is also based on coaching and consultancy. It is designed to provide prompt audit recommendations and reporting of audit performance results to Regions, Business Units and RM Group in order that remedial action decision making can be actioned.

The RMG SHE Management Health and Safety Audit programme consists of:-

A step by step description of the audit process to be followed.
A set of mandatory audit questions.
A set of guidance notes for auditors and those being audited.
A set of verification notes.
A scoring system weighted by safety significance to the RMG risk management strategy of RMG.
A national audit findings capture system.
As the audit evaluates local deployment of SHE Management Standards (SHEMS), legal compliance is effectively assessed through the audit as the standards are prepared to reflect statutory health and safety requirements.

The RMG SHE Director determines the Health and Safety Audit Schedule and this will be organised on a rolling 12 months basis. The audit covers all units with the exception of SPDOs although every effort will be made to incorporate them into the audit of their parent Delivery Office. Additional audits may be organised at ‘High Impact Units’, i.e. those with poor safety performance, previous poor audit scores, those with high risk levels and those with high numbers of employees.

The H&S Audits are designed to be undertaken by SHE Auditors in the Field SHE Teams.

CWU Area Health and Safety Reps can be involved in the Audit Programme.

Outcomes are:-

Immediate Communication of High risks to individuals for action.
Accurate reporting of strengths and weaknesses.
Prioritised improvement recommendations.
An approach which provides support, coaching and consultancy.
Promotion of RMG SHE Standards and national SHE Programmes as well as best practise.
Actions and Progress will tracked.
Heads of SHE will maintain an Actions register.
DSMs, Directors of Delivery or Processing or Area Managers etc., will be responsible for ensuring the follow up plan is in place.
The RM Group Risk & Improvement Manager will maintain a register of open and closed actions.
Audit Performance will be reported to the Field SHE Teams in the Regions.
The RM Group SHE Engagement Manager will deliver communications for compliance with the Audit SHE standard.
The Regional Heads of SHE will ensure that Audit arrangements are maintained in all areas.
For Specialist Areas outside of the main RMG Audit process where specialised tasks or work environments are involved, the Head of the Business Unit, Regions or Support Functions with responsibility for those working environments and the expert knowledge of the specialist work environments and tasks will ensure audit programmes are maintained, ensuring compliance with RMG SHE standard 18.2.

In summary, RMG SHE HQ sends the audit data out to SHE advisors, i.e. the auditors, so they can see performance by region, etc., and see how compliance levels in the different elements of the SHE Management Standards compare. They also have detailed guidance notes on how to score the audit which is regularly reviewed and improved based on feedback from the auditors themselves and RM SHE Standard owners. After an audit takes place, the Unit managers are left with a prioritised action plan and they have a follow-up discussion with the auditor to make sure they understand everything. RMG SHE HQ is currently looking at increasing the amount of SHE Advisor compliance focused Operational visits that take place.

Attachments:-

RMG SHE Standard 18.1
RMG SHE Standard 18.1 Guidance
2016/17 Completed Royal Mail Group Health & Safety Audits (to 9th Jan 2017)
Yours sincerely

Dave Joyce
National Health, Safety & Environment Officer