CHAPTER 23SAFETY AND HEALTH MANAGEMENT OF INTERNATIONAL OPERATIONS
S. Z. MANSDORF
7184 Via Palomar, Boca Raton, FL, 33433
The responsibility for providing safety and health management of international operations whether stationed in the United States or elsewhere can be challenging but also very broadening. Challenges include operating in a different organizational structure, different management philosophies and approaches, different cultural and societal characteristics, language barriers, inadequate infrastructure in some countries, and finding local technical resources. Conflicts in approaches to management can be especially challenging where there are differences in compliance cultures.
Recognizing the limitations and benefits of organizational structures is the first step in deciding how to best manage a program. Companies that are centrally controlled lend themselves to a more centralized environment, health, and safety (EH&S) structure, while those that are more division, product, or geography based are more likely to have resources at the division or zone level with a smaller corporate structure. Establishing the best balance of centralized versus local or regional support is important in far‐flung international operations.
Good governance in EH&S is viewed by most NGOs as requiring a management systems approach with ISO 14000 and BSI 18000 or equivalent accreditation as the minimum. Best practice for EH&S is to also have company standards for key EH&S aspects (e.g. ...