Safety is like a jigsaw puzzle. All the pieces have to be put in their right place before the picture emerges. And like a jigsaw, each piece must fit with its neighbours. All aspects of safety need to be taken into account because none of the elements of safety management exist in isolation.

It is critical to have a robust safety management system as a fundamental building block. However, the system in itself is not enough to lead to sustainable good safety performance. Adopting a people focus to managing health and safety breathes life into systems and drives a process of continuous improvement.

Many organisations tend to deal with safety when an incident occurs and someone gets injured. Incidents generate a flurry of activity, but once the incident is forgotten, things tend to return to the way they were - until the next time. Even organisations that are past this stage and have an outstanding commitment to safety may find themselves on a performance plateau.

A robust risk management process will correct issues before they lead to an incident. If an incident occurs, it means that the system is broken. Having a robust incident management system will help organisations improve each piece of the jigsaw and apply solutions that will bring about systemic, behavioural and cultural change.

Sustainable improvement can only be achieved if safety is recognised as a core value and integrated into business and management processes.