Whatever solution you choose, EKAS describes a company's safety system in 10 elements. This grid structures an industry solution, an internal audit and an inspection. This article goes through them, each with the place it lives in ENSURE.
The 10 elements
- Safety principles and objectives
- Safety organisation
- Training, instruction, information
- Safety rules
- Hazard identification and risk assessment
- Planning and carrying out measures
- Emergency organisation
- Participation
- Health protection
- Audit and control
Health protection also refers to Ordinance 3 to the Labour Act (OLT 3/ArGV 3): ergonomics, working hours, psychosocial risks.
How ENSURE fits, element by element
| Element | In ENSURE |
|---|---|
| 1. Principles and objectives | Policy and objectives in documents, monthly tracking with HSE KPIs |
| 2. Safety organisation | Sites, areas, roles and rights per person; every measure has a named owner |
| 3. Training, instruction, information | Training, matrix, competences with expiry dates, training needs raised from an incident or a change |
| 4. Safety rules | Documents with versions and review dates; legal register article by article; work permits |
| 5. Hazards and risk assessment | Risk register with your scoring method and your categories; job hazard analysis (JHA); chemicals with SDS reading |
| 6. Planning and carrying out measures | Actions and CAPA with owner, deadline, reminders and effectiveness review |
| 7. Emergency organisation | Emergency plan per site, drills and reviews |
| 8. Participation | Observations and near misses reported by staff from their phone |
| 9. Health protection | Chemical inventory, storage and incompatible-mix check, PPE list |
| 10. Audit and control | Audits with your own checklists, offline inspections, incident investigation |
What matters is the link between elements: a risk (5) leads to measures (6) with an owner (2), and to training (3) whose expiry date is tracked. In separate files these links get lost. ENSURE keeps them together.
What ENSURE does not do: occupational medicine and specialist judgement stay with your MSST specialists.
Source: EKAS/CFST: the 10 elements of the MSST system (French).
The 10 elements in one tool
See in 30 minutes how ENSURE links risks, measures, training and emergencies, using Swiss terms.