Governance
Although all workers have individual responsibility for components of risk management, compliance with protocols and development of a safety culture, these concepts will not become entrenched as the organisational norm unless they are backed by unconditional management support. It is the responsibility of senior management to instil these qualities into an organisation, and to create an environment that supports them.
There are a number of steps that management must undertake to promote good risk management. These include:
- Demonstrating the commitment of senior management to the principles of risk management
- Emphasising a commitment to staff safety and a no blame approach to incident reporting
- Timely and thorough investigation of incidents and accidents, which are reported in a transparent manner
- Ensuring that staff have appropriate competency based training and re-training
- Ensuring the development of clear policies and procedures, and ensuring compliance
- Ensuring clear lines of communication
- Supporting and facilitating risk management activities including quality cycle activities, monitoring and data collection
- Ensuring that all equipment meets the required standards.
It cannot be emphasised too strongly that a safety culture cannot develop within an organisation without a sound governance structure. It is recommended that centres create a formal Quality Improvement Committee, chaired by a senior member of the management team, and with representatives form all the relevant groupings within the centre. Meetings of the Committee should be held regularly, and proceedings recorded with action points.