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Occupational Health & Safety

More and more organisations are concerned about demonstrating their commitment to Occupational Health & Safety. This is mainly crucial for employees, but also for customers, stakeholders and the corporate image. In addition, stricter legislation demands that organisations show a clear, pro-active commitment towards health and safety. Clients and employees want proof of this up-front, in addition to being assured that an organisation will continue to meet their needs now and in the long term. That’s a challenge but also an opportunity for organisations to reduce risk and provide a safer working environment.

OHSAS 18001 is a specification for Occupational Health & Safety (OHS) Management Systems jointly developed by a number of international third party certification bodies, national standards bodies, and other interested parties. It enables organisations to manage operational risks and improve performance. It also provides guidance on how to manage the health and safety aspects of your business activities more effectively, while taking into careful consideration accident prevention, risk reduction and the well being of employees.

OHSAS 18001:2007
OHSAS - "Occupational Health and Safety Assessment Series"

OHSAS 18001:2007 is the “Occupational Health and Safety Assessment Series” that requires an Occupational Health and Safety (OH&S) management system, to enable the organization to improve its performance by controlling its OH&S risks in an efficient manner.

OHSAS Management Systems are based on standards, which specify a process of:-

Achieving continuously improved OHS performance
Complying with legislation
OHS Management Systems will provide a framework to
Identify hazards and assess risks in your work environment.
Develop methods to eliminate hazards and risks.
Implement measures to evaluate further improvement.

Key aspects of OH&S

Hazard identification
Risk assessment
Determination, prioritization and implementation of controls
Monitoring of the effectiveness of the controls
Improvement

Benefits of being OHSAS 18001 certified

Internationally recognised, OHSAS 18001:

helps organisations to prioritise and control OH&S issues
helps them to reduce risks, accidents and illness, downtime and operating costs
helps to improve staff wellbeing, motivation and understanding of everyone’s role in ensuring workplace safety
helps to improve organizational performance
translates the results of risk assessments, incident investigations, independent audits, inspections and reviews into risk-minimisation action plans
clearly demonstrates an organisation’s good governance, due diligence, responsibilities and proactive commitment to OH&S
proves high levels of OH&S when bidding for international contracts, expanding locally or negotiating lower insurance premiums
shows an organisation assesses, understands, manages and minimises hazards and risks to employees and neighbours
enables, emphasises and encourages transparency, objective setting and continual improvement in OH&S and related management systems
ensures legal compliance, reducing the risk of penalties or prosecution
enhances an organisation’s reputation and image

With OHSAS 18001 in place, organisations can avoid ad hoc, reactive ‘fire-fighting’ of issues. Such measures could be ineffective and simply reappear.

Overview (OHSAS 18001:2007)
OHSAS 18001 defines a set of occupational health and safety management system requirements. These requirements are listed in sections 4.1 to 4.6.

OHSAS 18001 2007 OH&S REQUIREMENTS

4.1 General Requirements	Establish an OHSMS for your Organization
	Develop an OHSMS that complies with OHSAS 18001. Document your OHSMS in accordance with OHSAS 18001. Implement your OHSMS in accordance with OHSAS 18001. Maintain your OHSMS in accordance with OHSAS 18001. Improve your OHSMS in accordance with OHSAS 18001.

4.2 Policy Requirements	Develop an OH&S Policy for your Organization
	Define your organization’s OH&S policy. Document your organization’s OH&S policy. Implement your organization’s OH&S policy. Maintain your organization’s OH&S policy. Communicate your organization’s OH&S policy.

4.3
Planning Requirements

4.3.1 Analyze OH&S Hazards and Select Controls

Identify OH&S hazards and assess your risks.

Develop a methodology to identify OH&S
hazards and assess your organization’s risks.
Establish procedures to identify OH&S hazards
and assess your organization’s risks.
Implement your OH&S hazard identification
and risk assessment methods and procedures.
Maintain your OH&S hazard identification and
risk assessment methods and procedures.

Reduce OH&S risks by selecting your controls.

Establish procedures to select your OH&S controls.
Implement your OH&S control selection procedures.
Maintain your OH&S control selection procedures.

	4.3.2 Respect Legal and Non-legal OH&S Requirements
	Establish procedures to identify and access the legal and non-legal OH&S requirements that apply to your organization. Respect all legal and non-legal requirements when you establish your organization’s OHSMS. Keep your organization’s legal and non-legal OH&S regulatory information up to date. Communicate information about your regulatory OH&S information to all interested participants.

	4.3.3 Establish OH&S Objectives and Programs
	Establish your organization’s OH&S objectives. Develop OH&S objectives for your organization. Implement your organization’s OH&S objectives. Establish your organization’s OH&S programs. Develop programs to achieve your OH&S objectives. Implement programs to achieve your OH&S objectives. Maintain programs to achieve your OH&S objectives.

4.4 Implementation Requirements	4.4.1 Establish Responsibility and Accountability
	Ask your top management to accept responsibility for OH&S. Make sure that management demonstrates a commitment to OH&S. Appoint a member of management to manage and control OH&S. Make sure that your workers take responsibility for OH&S.

4.4.2 Ensure Competence and Provide Training

Ensure the competence of people who perform
tasks that could have an impact on OH&S.
Maintain records which show that people who
have an impact on OH&S are in fact competent.
Identify your organization’s OH&S training needs.
Establish OH&S training methods and procedures.
Provide training to meet your OH&S training needs.
Evaluate the effectiveness of your OH&S training activities.
Maintain a record of OH&S training activities and results.
Establish a procedure to make people aware of OH&S.
Implement your OH&S awareness procedure.
Maintain your OH&S awareness procedure.

4.4.3 Establish Communication and Participation

4.4.3.1 Establish OH&S Communication Procedures

Establish an internal OH&S communication procedure.

Develop a procedure to control internal communications.
Implement your internal communications procedure.
Maintain your internal communications procedure.

Establish a contractor and visitor OH&S communication procedure.

Develop a procedure to control how you communicate
about OH&S with your contractors and visitors.
Implement a procedure to control how you communicate
about OH&S with your contractors and visitors.
Maintain a procedure to control how you communicate
about OH&S with your contractors and visitors.

Establish an external OH&S communication procedure.

Develop a procedure to control external communications.
Implement a procedure to control external communications.
Maintain a procedure to control external communications.

4.4.3.2 Establish OH&S Participation and Consultation

Establish a worker participation procedure.

Develop a procedure to manage worker involvement.
Implement your worker participation procedure.
Maintain your worker participation procedure.
Consult with workers about OH&S matters.

Consult with contractors and other parties.

Develop a procedure to manage contractor involvement.
Implement your contractor participation procedure.
Maintain your contractor participation procedure.
Consult with external parties about OH&S matters.

	4.4.4 Document your Organization's OHSMS
	Document your organization’s OH&S policy. Document your organization’s OH&S objectives. Document the scope (boundary) of your OHSMS. Document the elements (parts) of your OHSMS. Document how the elements of your OHSMS interact.

	4.4.5 Control your Organization's OH&S Documents
	Control documents required by OHSAS 18001. Establish a procedure to control OH&S documents. Implement your OH&S document control procedure. Maintain your OH&S document control procedure. Control your OH&S management records.

4.4.6 Implement Operational OH&S Control Measures

Identify those operations and activities that should use
controls to manage OH&S hazards and reduce risks.
Implement controls to manage OH&S hazards and reduce risks.
Implement documented procedures to reduce your OH&S risks.
Implement operating criteria to reduce your OH&S risks.
Maintain your organization’s OH&S procedures and controls.
Maintain the operating criteria needed to control OH&S risks.

	4.4.7 Establish an OH&S Emergency Management Process
	Prepare for emergency situations that could impact OH&S. Establish OH&S emergency management procedures. Test your OH&S emergency management procedures. Implement your OH&S emergency management procedures. Review your OH&S emergency management procedures. Revise your OH&S emergency management procedures.

4.5
Checking Requirements

4.5.1 Monitor and Measure your OH&S Performance

Establish procedures to monitor and measure OH&S performance.
Implement your OH&S monitoring and measurement procedures.
Maintain your OH&S monitoring and measurement procedures.
Record the results of your monitoring and measurement activities.
Establish procedures for monitoring and measurement equipment.
Implement procedures for monitoring and measurement equipment.
Maintain procedures for monitoring and measurement equipment.

4.5.2 Evaluate Legal and Non-legal Compliance

4.5.2.1 Evaluate Compliance with Legal Requirements

Establish a procedure to periodically evaluate how well
your organization complies with legal OH&S requirements.
Record the results of your legal OH&S compliance evaluations.

4.5.2.2 Evaluate Compliance with Non-legal Requirements

Establish a procedure to periodically evaluate how well your
organization complies with non-legal (other) OH&S requirements.
Record the results of your non-legal OH&S compliance evaluations.

4.5.3 Investigate Incidents and Take Remedial Action

4.5.3.1 Investigate your Organization's OH&S Incidents

Establish procedures to investigate OH&S incidents.
Implement your OH&S incident investigation procedures.
Maintain your OH&S incident investigation procedures.

4.5.3.2 Take Corrective and Preventive Action

Establish nonconformity management procedures.
Implement your nonconformity management procedures.
Maintain your nonconformity management procedures.

	4.5.4 Establish and Control OH&S Records
	Establish OH&S records for your organization. Maintain your organization’s OH&S records. Develop procedures to control your OH&S records. Implement your OH&S record keeping procedures.

	4.5.5 Conduct Internal Audits of your OHSMS
	Establish an internal OHSMS audit program. Implement your internal OHSMS audit program. Maintain your internal OHSMS audit program.

4.6 Review Requirements	Review the Performance of your OHSMS
	Review your OHSMS by examining inputs. Assess the results of your management reviews. Generate OHSMS management review outputs. Communicate management review outputs.

What is OHSAS 18001?

OHSAS 18000 is an international occupational health and safety management system specification. It comprises two parts, 18001 and 18002 and embraces a number of other publications.
For the record, the following other documents, amongst others, were used in the creation process:

BS8800:1996 Guide to occupational health and safety management systems
DNV Standard for Certification of Occupational Health and Safety Management Systems(OHSMS):1997
Technical Report NPR 5001: 1997 Guide to an occupational health and safety management system
Draft LRQA SMS 8800 Health & safety management systems assessment criteria
SGS & ISMOL ISA 2000:1997 Requirements for Safety and Health Management Systems
BVQI SafetyCert: Occupational Safety and Health Management Standard
Draft AS/NZ 4801 Occupational health and safety management systems Specification with guidance for use
Draft BSI PAS 088 Occupational health and safety management systems
UNE 81900 series of pre-standards on the Prevention of occupational risks
Draft NSAI SR 320 Recommendation for an Occupational Health and Safety (OH and S) Management System

OHSAS 18001 is an Occupation Health and Safety Assessment Series for health and safety management systems. It is intended to help an organizations to control occupational health and safety risks. It was devloped in response to widespread demand for a recognized standard against which to be certified and assessed.

FAQs

What does OHSAS stand for?
It stands for stands for the 'Occupational Health and Safety Assessment Series'

Did it evolve from BS 8800?
It evolved from BS 8800 and many other national and private standards. These included Technical Report NPR 5001: 1997, SGS & ISMOL ISA 2000:1997, BVQI SafetyCert, DNV Standard for Certification of Occupational Health and Safety Management Systems(OHSMS):1997, Draft NSAI SR 320, Draft AS/NZ 4801, Draft BSI PAS 088, UNE 81900 series of pre-standards and Draft LRQA SMS 8800

Is it compatible with other standards?
OHSAS 18001 has been developed to be compatible with the ISO 9001 and ISO 14001.

Does it follow the Plan-Do-Check-Review cycle?
Yes.

Why was it developed?
It was developed "in response to the need for companies to meet their health and safety obligations in an efficient manner" (BSI)

Benefits - How Can OHSAS Help?

The OHSAS specification is applicable to any organisation that wishes to:

Establish an OH&S management system to eliminate or minimise risk to employees and other interested parties who may be exposed to OH&S risks associated with its activities
Assure itself of its conformance with its stated OH&S policy
Demonstrate such conformance to others
Implement, maintain and continually improve an OH&S management system
Make a self-determination and declaration of conformance with this OHSAS specification.
Seek certification/registration of its OH&S management system by an external organisation

Essentially, OHSAS helps in a variety of respects... it helps: minimise risk to employees/etc; improve an existing OH&S management system; demonstrate diligence; gain assurance; etc. The benefits can be substabtial.

Health & Safety

Q: What does OHSAS 18001 do?
A: OHSAS 18001 is an auditable certification standard that will allow you to demonstrate that you are able to identify, evaluate and control hazards in your workplace.

Q: What do I need in place?
A: You need to have established an operable occupational health and safety management system.

Q: Can I integrate it with other standards?
A: Yes.OHSAS 18001 is designed to be integrated with ISO 9001 and ISO 14001