Birds of a feather (quality management and health and safety)
Article Type: Abstracts From: Human Resource Management International Digest, Volume 17, Issue 5
Walton T.Quality World (UK), February 2009, Start page: 16, No. of pages: 5
Purpose – To consider why health and safety issues have found it easier than quality management issues to become leading features of business agendas. Design/methodology/approach – The features of health and safety that express similar properties to quality management are discussed, noting that health and safety data is gathered, analysed and acted upon in a regular cycle that demands management review and attention in a way that is not often the case in the field of quality management, a fact that many quality management professionals look upon with envy. Makes the case for the two fields to be treated with the same attention. Findings – It is recommended that quality management features be built into the main management system in the same way as health and safety features. Reports comparative information about the specific enabling criteria (leadership, policy and strategy, people, partnerships and resources, processes), and results criteria (people results, customer results,society results, key performance results) drawn from three international standards for quality management and health and safety (ISO 9001, ISO 14001,OHSAS 18001). Originality/value – Explains how companies and organizations can ensure that their quality management focus gets as much attention as the health and safety focus in the lights of higher management. ISSN: 1352-8769 Reference: 38AF995
Keywords: Quality management, Health and safety, Management techniques, International standards, Organizations
