Under the Seveso II directive enterprises that store and/or handle large quantities of hazardous materials are obliged to prepare a Safety Report (SR) and to establish a Safety Management System (SMS). Most large, multinational enterprises, having the fundamentals of the Seveso II directive already in place, consider these requirements a costly, time and resources consuming paper exercise. The situation for small and medium size enterprises differs in most cases. In general their effort in improving safety is authority driven and usually there has not been a (formal) need to establish an SMS in the past. Therefore the typical small company does not yet have an SMS and the management of a small company is often reluctant to implement an SMS. This because they envisage a large, formal and paperwork oriented SMS as required when implementing known management systems such as ISO 9001 and ISO 14001. Traditional, formal and paperwork oriented, SMS's were based on the management structure of multinational enterprises. Management theory learns that these management systems are not necessarily applicable to small and medium size enterprises, explaining some of the resistance of these enterprises when trying to impose a large and paperwork oriented SMS. Experience obtained as a consultant for several small and medium size enterprises shows that it is possible to develop fit for purpose management systems fully adhering to the Seveso II directive.
展开▼
