Industrial Safety Management >Chapter 1> Topic – Introduction > Subtopic- Authority , Accountability & Responsibility of Management

 Authority , Accountability & Responsibility of Management

Authority : 

• Authority means legal or delegated power or right to a person.
• When manager is given powers to perform his managerial roles ,by the higher executive ,board or the owner , its is said he has authority to act, sign etc. 
• Safety Officer has authority to design or sign safety work permit or to sign a purchase order of a safety equipment.

Definition of Authority - Authority is the right to give orders and the power to exact obedience. 

Characteristics of Authority - 

• It is attached with the position is legal ,legitimate and formal. 
• It gives power to superior 
• A subordinate obeys the superior by virtue of this authority
• It is not unlimited its extent and limits are defined in advance
• It is relationship between two Individuals a  superior and a subordinate 
• It is used to achieve organizational goals 
• It is key to the managerial function
• It gives right of decision making and to get the decisions carried out
• It is delegated 

Accountability -

• Accountability is a liability created for the transfer of Authority
• It is a answerability for the performance of the assigned duties
• Its is the obligation of an individual to report formally to his superior about the work he has done to discharge the responsibility
• Accountability means that the subordinate should explain any factors that are responsible for poor or lack of performance, however, the manager is ultimately responsible for the overall performance of the employee.

Responsibility - 

• Responsibility is the obligation of a subordinate to perform the duty as required by his superior”.
• The term ‘responsibility’ is often referred to as “an obligation to perform a particular task assigned to a subordinate. In an organization, responsibility is the duty as per the guidelines issued”.
• When delegating a task, both the manager and the person receiving the delegation share the responsibility of completing the work. The manager has the responsibility of providing instructions on what work needs to be done, while the person receiving the delegation is responsible for figuring out how the task should be completed.
• A  leader is responsible and has responsibility for the operation for which they have been given authority. The essence of responsibility is the obligation of a subordinate to perform the duty assigned.
• It always originates from the superior-subordinate relationship
• Responsibility is in the form of a continuing obligation
• The person accepting responsibility is accountable for the performance of assigned duties

References  : 

1. Fundamentals of Industrial Safety and Health -By K.U. Mistry 
2. Industrial Safety ,Health and Environment Management System - By R.K. Jain , Sunil S. Rao 
3. WWW.Google.Com