Available online at www.sciencedirect.

com

Procedia Engineering 45 (2012) 204 – 207

2012 International Symposium on Safety Science and Technology

Model of total safety management(TSM) and its application
ZHI Xueyi*, LAI Chunming, ZHANG Chi
School of Resource and Environmental Engineering, Jiangxi University of Science and Technology, Ganzhou 341000,Jiangxi China

Abstract

The traditional programs of safety are explored showing strengths and weaknesses. This article brings new light on TSM from a systems
perspective and concludes with the formulation of a comprehensive TSM system. The eight elements of the TSM are highlighted.
According to the elements the TSM model are discussed. Finally, an analysis of the relationship between accident numbers and total
safety management from data collected from a company is presented. The accident numbers is keeping deline under the action of TSM in
the company.

© 2012 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. Selection and/or peer-review under responsibility of the Beijing Institute of
Technology.

Keywords: Safety management; Accident numbers; Total safety management model

1. Introduction

There are many forms of safety management in the companies. The types most commonly used are the traditional
method of safety. Safety professionals from companies adhering to the traditional method of safety direct and control
workers so that they complete the expected company safety standards. They also enforce laws and government
regulations[1-3]. They are devoted to impose regulations to their employees, carry out inspections, audit the system, direct
investigations of accidents, and establish recommendations in order to prevent accidents in the future. The safety
professionals try to modify the behavior of the worker, and use prizes and incentives to help them work in a safer way[4,5].
Fig. 1 provides an illustration of a representation of the traditional focus of safety management. The common elements of
traditional safety programs include: safety director, safety committees, meetings relating to safety, list of rules pertaining to
safety, posting of slogans, posters, and programs of safety incentives[6]. The traditional safety management programs do not
always improve the results of safety because they are centered exclusively on the technical requirements and on obtaining
short-term results. Another shortcoming of the traditional safety management program is that the program is isolated and
many times not integrated with the rest of the functions of an organization. The responsibility of the safety program falls on
the safety director who occupies a position inside the organization of the company and, in many cases, does not have the
authority to make changes .

2. Elements of total safety management

Total safety management (TSM) is a performance-oriented approach to safety management that involves the total
organization in establishing and maintaining a safe and healthful work environment. TSM includes eight elements
below[7,8].

* Corresponding author. Tel.: Tel.: 13879788959.

E-mail address: aq9303@tom.com
Supported by the Natural Science Foundation of JiangXI under Grant 20111BBG70033-2

1877-7058 © 2012 Published by Elsevier Ltd.

doi:10.1016/j.proeng.2012.08.144
 ZHI Xueyi et al. / Procedia Engineering 45 (2012) 204 – 207 205

Fig.1. Traditional safety management.

(1)Concentrate on the long-range goal of developing a system, not on short-term annual accident goals.
(2) Discard the philosophy of accepting accidents.
(3) Use statistical techniques to identify the two sources of accidents.They are the system and human error.
(4) Institute more thorough job skills training.
(5) Eliminate dependence on accident investigation. Instead, use proactive approaches such as behavioral sampling,
fishbone diagrams, flow charts, etc., to reveal system flaws and achieve continuous system improvement.
(6) Provide supervisors with knowledge of statistical methods and ensure that these tools are used to identify areas needing
additional study.
(7) Reduce fear throughout the organization by encouraging all employees to report system defects and help find solutions.
(8) Reduce accidents by designing safety into the process. Train research and design personnel in safety concepts.

3. The model of total safety management

With the interpretation postulated above, it is possible to construct a TSM model (Fig.2). Below is the description of the
functional content of the TSM model[9-11].

Fig.2. Total safety management model.

206 ZHI Xueyi et al. / Procedia Engineering 45 (2012) 204 – 207

The TSM policy should be one that is risk-avoiding, long-term focused, action biased and fact oriented. The policy
nurtures constructive safety leadership that resides in every function.The TSM strategy drives the company to adapt to
external changes such as new safety regulations and technologies. TSM strategy considers employee’s safety capability
instead of their price-only-selection.
TSM favors a safety control system that does not rely on frequent safety inspection. Instead, leadership and training are
employed to the system less dependent on control. TSM requires effective safety inspection and auditing that can identify
underlying safety problems and drive continual improvement. Statistical analysis on safety performance as obtained through
inspections and audit, such as accident rate or frequency of observed unsafe behavior, the root cause of an accident and aims
at continual improvement.
TSM is a truly systemic approach in which effective safety coordination is enabled, with an effective communication
system that enables the free communication of ideas for improvement. There is proactive safety leadership that interacts
effectively with other functions. The policy encourages personnel at all levels to participate in protecting and advancing
safety. Operational practice is to use positive signals to boost safety morale for the promotion of safety culture. Operations
under TSM are free of unrealistic numerical targets and are managed by facts and effective leadership that drives daily
improvement to all processes at all levels.

4. Evolution of the TSM in a company

Analyzing the results of occupational safety and health in a company, two of the phases were identified: traditional safety
management and total safety management. Beginning in the year 2005, the TSM model was started in the company. Fig. 3
illustrates the number of accident numbers registered in the company from 2001 to 2011. The total number of accidents and
injuries has generally had a negative trend.The numbers from the early 5 years shows that accidents and injuries were not
stable. However, since 2005, the number of accidents is in a downward trend. Analyzing this information, we can find that
the actions that are carried out in regards to worker safety are punctual actions, most of them are not systematize. From
2005 to the present, the accident numbers is keeping deline under the action of TSM in the company.

30
Total Safety Management

25
Accident Numbers

20

15

Traditional Safety Management

10

0
2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011

Year

Fig.3. The trend line of accident numbers in a company

5. Conclusions
TSM gives an organization a sustainable competitive advantage in the company.TSM is accomplished by involving all
employees in establishing, maintaining, and continually improving the work environment, so that it is conducive to peak
performance. A new stage in safety management was used in the company, denominated by a TSM model. The result
showed that the accident numbers is in a downward trend after using the TSM model.
 ZHI Xueyi et al. / Procedia Engineering 45 (2012) 204 – 207 207

References
[1] SUSANA GARCIA,MIGUEL ANGEL MARISCAL SALDANA, 2002. From the traditional concept of safety management to safety integrated with
quality, Journal of Safety Research,33, p. 1.
[2] RAHIMI, M., 1995. Merging strategic safety health and environment into total quality management, International Journal of Industrial Ergonomics 16,
p. 83.
[3] WEINSTEIN, M.H., 1996.Improving safety programs through total quality. Occupational Hazards 58, p. 27.
[4] ABU-KHADER M. M., 2004. Impact of human behaviour on process safety management in developing countries, Process Safety and Environmental
Protection 82, p. 431.
[5] BEATRIZ FERMANDEZ, JOSE MAUEL MONTERS, 2009. Relation between occupational safety management and firm performance, Safety
Science47, p. 980.
[6] LARS HARMS RINGDAHL, 2003. Assessing safety functions—results from a case study at an industrial workplace, Safety Science 41, p. 701.
[7] ZUBAIDAH ISMAIL, SAMAD DOOSTDAR, ZAKARIA HARUN, 2012. Factors influencing the implementation of a safety management system for
construction sites, Safety Science 50, p. 418.
[8] RAJA PRASAD, S.V.S.,REGHUNATH, 2010.Empirical analysis of construction safety climate – a study, International Journal of Engineering
Science and Technology 46, p. 1699.
[9] ROBSON, L.S., CLARKE, J.A., CULLEN, K.,BIELECKY, A., 2007. The effectiveness of occupational health and safety management system
interventions: a systematic review, Safety Science45, p. 329.
[10] SAURIN, T.A., FARMOSO, C.T., CAMBRAIA, F.B., 2005. Analysis of a safety planning and control model from the human error perspective, Eng.
Const. Arch. Manage 12 , p. 283.
[11] HUANG Xinxiong, 2004. Total Safety Management-Management Model in Safety Production of Construction, Quality Management 8, p. 8.