Personal Safety as an Element of an Organisation’s Safety Management System
Purpose: The aim of this article is to identify and assess the significance of personal safety within an organisation’s safety management system and to define the mechanisms enabling its systematic development. Particular attention has been paid to the dual role of the individual – as both a subject requiring protection and an active participant in processes influencing the organisation’s safety level. Design/Methodology/Approach: The main research question was formulated as follows: How does personal safety management influence the effectiveness of an organisation’s safety management system? The hypothesis adopted was that systematic personal safety management–encompassing the identification and assessment of hazards, preventive measures, staff training, incident response, and continuous improvement–enhances the effectiveness of an organisation’s safety system by mitigating human-factor risks and strengthening employees’ ability to respond appropriately to hazards. The study employed a review and critique of the literature, an analysis of institutional documents and reports, a comparative analysis, and synthesis and inference. Selected standards and publications from ISO, NIST, ENISA and the International Labour Organisation were also analysed. Findings: The analysis indicates that personal safety is an integral part of an organisation’s security system and encompasses a much broader scope than the traditionally understood concept of employee protection. Interdependencies between physical, psychosocial, organisational, information and cyber threats were identified. The dual nature of the human factor was also demonstrated – an employee may constitute a potential source of vulnerability for the organisation, but, if properly trained, can simultaneously act as an active element of the security system. The results of the analysis confirmed the validity of the hypothesis. Practical Implications: The results can be utilised by organisations to design personnel security policies, conduct risk assessments, plan training, identify key posts, manage access rights, and prepare procedures for responding to incidents and crisis situations. The proposed approach may also serve as a basis for developing audit tools and indicators to assess an organisation’s level of personnel security. Originality/Value: The value of this study lies in integrating the employee protection perspective with the safety management perspective across the entire organisation, and in proposing a model framework for a personnel safety management system. The author’s model comprises six interrelated stages: identification, assessment, prevention, preparation, response and improvement. The central element of the model is the individual, whilst its operation is supported by organisational, procedural, technical and educational measures. The result of implementing this approach should be a reduction in human-factor risks, increased staff protection, and strengthened business continuity and organisational resilience.