The Prevention Tree

      The “Prevention Tree” represents Safety Projects International Inc’s vision of an effective health and safety management system.  Using the analogy of the tree, we can describe the essential elements of a health and safety management system. 

       A tree may have many leaves but it will not thrive unless it has a healthy root system, trunk and branches.  The roots of a successful safety management system are leadership and commitment by executive management, and the workplace culture that values and reinforces health and safety in all operations. 

       At the base of the tree is a health and safety policy, which lays the function for the program by expressing the commitment & leadership of management towards excellence in health and safety performance.  It is the trunk of the tree – what holds everything else up, as is a system for managing occupational health and safety – for setting goals and making sure that everyone knows their responsibilities and is held accountable for them.

The branches of the tree are the functions that ensure employee participation and effective communications and training, and that recognize and motivate good health and safety performance for both staff and contractors. 

       The leaves are the activities performed in the workplace to anticipate, recognize, assess and control health and safety hazards, and to manage disability if injury and illness do occur.

      When all these elements are in place and functioning well, any workplace will be successful in creating safe and healthy tasks, workplaces and behaviors, and the tree will bear fruit – fruit that includes healthy and safe workers, contractors and neighbors who are confident of returning home safely, in addition to good employee morale, lower costs, and a more successful business.