HSE Management for Operations Managers Training Course

Course overview

Operations managers are accountable for production, maintenance, logistics and contractor activity, yet many HSE failures originate in routine operational decisions: a rushed line restart, an uncontrolled permit handover, a changed shift pattern, or a contractor working outside agreed controls. This course equips managers to turn HSE requirements into practical operating disciplines that protect people, prevent environmental releases and sustain reliable delivery. It focuses on the manager’s role in setting controls, verifying performance and intervening before weak signals become incidents.

Participants learn to apply ISO 45001 and ISO 14001 principles within daily operations; identify hazards and environmental aspects; assess operational risk; select controls using the hierarchy of controls; and manage permits, isolations, contractors and emergency readiness. They practise leading incident investigations, distinguishing immediate causes from failed management controls, and using leading and lagging indicators to target corrective action. The course also addresses safety leadership conversations, compliance assurance, management of change and environmental control of waste, spills, emissions and resource use.

Delivery combines instructor-led technical sessions with operational case studies, team risk reviews, permit and investigation simulations, and workshops using practical templates. Each participant develops an Operations HSE Improvement Plan for a selected work area, including a risk register, control-verification schedule, performance measures and prioritised actions. This gives both the participant and their manager a usable 90-day implementation document rather than a set of general recommendations.

The programme is best suited to operational leaders who already supervise work, assets, contractors or frontline teams and need a structured method for integrating HSE performance with production, quality and cost decisions.

Course objectives

By the end of this course, participants will be able to:

• Apply ISO 45001 and ISO 14001 requirements to operational planning, control and performance review
• Construct a task-based risk assessment using hazard identification, consequence analysis and the hierarchy of controls
• Develop an environmental aspects-and-impacts register for routine, abnormal and emergency operations
• Verify critical controls through field inspections, permit checks and control-assurance conversations
• Lead a root-cause incident investigation using the 5 Whys, causal-factor analysis and corrective-action tracking
• Design leading and lagging HSE KPI dashboards in Microsoft Excel for operational review meetings
• Manage operational changes through a documented management-of-change assessment and approval workflow
• Produce a 90-day Operations HSE Improvement Plan with owners, milestones, measures and escalation triggers

Benefits of attending

Target competencies

Who should attend

• Operations Managers — who must balance production targets with accountable control of workplace and environmental risk
• Production Managers — who direct line, plant or process performance and need repeatable HSE control routines
• Maintenance Managers — who oversee isolations, permits, shutdowns and high-risk maintenance activity
• Warehouse and Logistics Managers — who manage vehicle movements, manual handling, loading operations and contractor interfaces
• Facilities Managers — who control site services, building safety, waste streams and emergency arrangements
• Shift Managers and Supervisors — who translate operating procedures and risk controls into safe work on every shift

Requirements and prerequisites

Participants should have at least one year of responsibility for operational teams, work areas, production assets, maintenance activity, logistics or contractors. They should be familiar with their organisation’s basic safety procedures, incident reporting route, risk assessment forms and routine operating instructions. Prior exposure to toolbox talks, inspections, permits to work or environmental controls is useful, but specialist HSE qualifications are not required. Participants do not need to be auditors, engineers or environmental scientists. A laptop with Microsoft Excel is recommended for the KPI and action-planning exercises; no prior experience with bowtie software is assumed.

Training methodology

The programme uses short instructor-led briefings followed by practical application to realistic operations scenarios, including a production restart, contractor maintenance task, chemical spill and repeated near-miss trend. Participants work in small groups to build risk assessments, test permit controls, map incident causes and review HSE performance data in Microsoft Excel. Facilitated discussion connects ISO requirements to decisions made on the shop floor or site. On the final day, each participant converts course outputs into a tailored 90-day Operations HSE Improvement Plan and receives peer and instructor feedback.

Course outline

Day 1: The Operations Manager’s HSE Accountability

• Operational HSE accountabilities under ISO 45001 and ISO 14001
• The relationship between production pressure, human factors and control failure
• HSE policy deployment into operational objectives and daily routines
• Hazard, risk, environmental aspect and impact definitions
• Legal compliance obligations and the manager’s evidence of control
• Safety leadership behaviours, visible field presence and intervention standards
• HSE roles, responsibilities and escalation routes across shifts and contractors

Workshop: Participants map the HSE responsibilities, escalation points and control interfaces for a selected operational area and identify three accountability gaps.

Day 2: Risk, Environmental Control and Safe Work Systems

• Task-based hazard identification for routine, non-routine and emergency work
• Risk matrices, consequence categories and likelihood calibration
• Hierarchy of controls and selection of effective operational barriers
• Bow-tie analysis of threats, preventive controls, recovery controls and escalation factors
• Environmental aspects-and-impacts evaluation for waste, emissions, energy and spills
• Permit-to-work, lockout-tagout and isolation verification principles
• Control of contractors, simultaneous operations and shift handovers

Workshop: Teams complete a bow-tie risk review and permit-control checklist for a contractor maintenance intervention on operating equipment.

Day 3: Assurance, Inspection and Incident Learning

• Critical control standards and field verification questions
• Planned inspections, behavioural observations and workplace sampling
• Leading versus lagging indicators for operational HSE performance
• Incident classification, notification thresholds and evidence preservation
• 5 Whys, causal-factor charting and identification of management-system causes
• Corrective-action quality, ownership, due dates and effectiveness verification
• Learning reviews, toolbox briefings and prevention of repeat events

Workshop: Participants investigate a simulated forklift–pedestrian near miss, produce a causal-factor analysis and assign verified corrective actions.

Day 4: Managing Change and Emergency Readiness

• Management-of-change triggers for people, plant, process, materials and procedures
• Change-risk assessment, authorisation and pre-startup review steps
• Temporary operating procedures and control of deviations
• Emergency scenario planning for fire, spill, release and medical response
• Environmental spill containment, waste segregation and incident reporting
• Business continuity links between emergency response and operational recovery
• Contractor and workforce consultation during changes and emergency drills

Workshop: Participants conduct a management-of-change review for a proposed shift-pattern and chemical-substitution change, producing an approval and control plan.

Day 5: Performance Review and HSE Improvement Planning

• Designing operational HSE KPIs and data definitions
• Microsoft Excel dashboards for inspections, actions, near misses and training status
• Trend analysis, Pareto prioritisation and risk-based management review
• HSE meeting structures, action logs and escalation criteria
• Internal audit preparation and evidence of operational control
• Prioritising improvement actions by risk, feasibility, owner and timescale
• Communicating the Operations HSE Improvement Plan to senior leaders and frontline teams

Workshop: Each participant builds and presents a 90-day Operations HSE Improvement Plan with a risk register, KPI set, assurance schedule and named action owners.

Tools & standards covered

ISO 45001:2018, ISO 14001:2015, bowtieXP, Microsoft Excel

A typical training day

Live online deliveries follow the same structure in the East Africa Time zone, with shorter screen blocks and longer breaks.

What the fee includes

How you can take this course

Certification

Participants who complete the full five days receive the Skillset Development Certificate of Completion, stating the course title, course code, dates and delivery format — suitable for professional-development records and employer reimbursement.

Frequently asked questions