An integrated safety, health, environment and quality management system for a multi-business packaging organisation in South Africa
Authors:   , Nadar Manikam Michael 
Published: November 2023

Organisations operate in a challenging and competitive environment that are primarily driven by the markets that the organisation serves, and these organisations rely on management systems to provide strategic direction that aligns with the goals of the organisation. As such, organisations typically progressively implement independently managed safety, health, environment, and quality management systems. However, these standalone management systems work in silos that are not synergised and can achieve improved outcomes if integrated into one coherent integrated management system (IMS) that is aligned to the strategic goals of the organisation. The theoretical framework of the study was based on the systems theory that views an organisation as an open system, that consists of sub systems that are sequenced and interact to form a holistic system that contributes to a final output. The conceptual framework was based on existing researched models to gain insight on the different IMS models as well as the challenges and benefits experienced by organisations globally in implementing an IMS. The strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats of the researched organisation’s independent safety, and health, environment, and quality (SHEQ) management systems were researched to contextualise the organisation. A mixed research methodology was used to gain an understanding of the current independent management systems and the challenges that the researched organisation faces towards implementing an integrated IMS. The challenges associated with the organization's independently management systems include ineffective use of resources, duplication of work, and the difficulty of managing independent systems. An IMS will address these challenges, however, implementing an IMS may pose challenges such as resistance to change and inadequate expertise. The management of change and the proposed structured IMS model together with the provision of the required skills and knowledge will aid in ensuring the successful implementation of the IMS. An organisation must have clear IMS objectives that must be aligned to the strategic goals of the organisation, to ensure better, utilisation of the organisation’s resources, management of cost, reduction in documentation and a change in the organisation’s SHEQ culture. The fourth industrial revolution provides an opportunity for the organisation to use a cloud-based document management system to enhance the organisation’s IMS. Findings of the research support the notion of an IMS. Based on the researched models and the qualitative and quantitative research, a multi-dimension IMS model was formulated using the systems theory, and proposed strategies was articulated, that the researched organisation can adopt to implement an IMS. This study ascertained how the three-standalone safety, and health, environment and quality management systems can be unified into an integrated multi-dimensional model that could be possibly adopted by the metal division of the organisation across three business units located in three South African provinces. The successful implementation of the IMS will involve reviewing the existing staff structure, integration of the existing documentation based on the proposed IMS model, conducting a SHEQ management review and auditing. The research has extended the IMS theory by contributing knowledge on the IMS organisation structure, IMS document structure, IMS structure, proposed ISO IMS requirements and a proposed IMS model.