Health & Safety Management

A quick guide to OHSAS 18001

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CONTENTS
WHAT IS AN OHSMS AND WHAT IS OHSAS 18001/OHSAS 18002? WHY IMPLEMENT AN OHSMS THAT MEETS OHSAS 18001? OHSAS 18001 MODEL POLICY PLANNING IMPLEMENTATION AND OPERATION CHECKING AND CORRECTIVE ACTION MANAGEMENT REVIEW WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS OF REGISTRATION TO OHSAS 18001? OHSAS 18001. JUST ONE OF A SUITE OF MANAGEMENT SYSTEM MODELS HOW BSI CAN HELP?

WHAT IS AN OHSMS AND WHAT IS OHSAS 18001/ OHSAS 18002?

An Occupational Health and Safety Management System (OHSMS) is a framework that allows an organisation to consistently identify and control its health and safety risks, reduce the potential for accidents, help achieve compliance with health and safety legislation and continually improve its performance. OHSAS 18001 is an internationally accepted specification that defines the requirements for establishing, implementing and operating an OHSMS. The specification was developed with the assistance of a number of international standards and certification bodies. Therefore, OHSAS 18001 fills a void, in that there is currently no international ISO standard suitable for independent third-party certification. To compliment OHSAS 18001, BSI published OHSAS 18002, which explains the requirements of the specification and shows you how to work towards the effective implementation of an OHSMS. OHSAS 18002 provides guidance and is not intended for independent certification. OHSAS 18001 was designed to be compatible with ISO 9001 and ISO 14001. This will be helpful if you want to design, implement and operate an integrated quality, environmental and occupational health and safety management system.

WHY IMPLEMENT AN OHSMS THAT MEETS OHSAS 18001?

Implementing an OHSMS is now a legal requirement in many countries. How do you keep up with legislation and set up a system that protects you and your company? The answer is to introduce a management system that can reduce the risk of accidents, litigation and downtime. OHSAS 18001 provides an organisation with a structured approach to planning, implementing and managing an OHSMS. Initially, it may be perceived that occupational health and safety can be a drain on resources, offering little in financial return. In practice, it has been shown that costs will be outweighed by reducing accidents and occupational illness, damage to equipment/ plant, the cost of fines and civil actions. The benefits of an OHSMS include: Reductions in staff absence Reductions in claims against the organisation Reductions in adverse publicity Improved insurance liability rating Improved productivity A positive response from customers who want to deal with an organisation with a proven health and safety track record

OHSAS 18001 MODEL

OHSAS 18001 MODEL

CURRENT SITUATION

CONTINUAL IMPROVEMENT

MANAGEMENT REVIEW

OH&S POLICY

CHECKING AND CORRECTIVE ACTION

PLANNING

IMPLEMENTATION & OPERATION

Before you can implement an OHSMS, you must understand what you currently know about your health and safety risks and performance. You will need to carry out an Initial Review. First look at your current occupational health and safety provisions including your policy, risk assessments and documentation. This will provide a baseline from which progress can be measured. The type of questions you might want to ask are: How do we currently identify hazards, conduct risk assessments and implement control measures? What regulations and legal requirements do we have to meet?

How do we report incidents and accidents? How do we deal with emergency situations? What are the views of our stakeholders?

OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH AND SAFETY (OHS) POLICY

OHSAS 18001 requires you to produce a policy statement that communicates your OHS values. The policy must be supported and authorised by top management. You must deliver performance that is consistent with this statement.

PLANNING
The Initial Review should have helped you to gain a better understanding of your legislative and regulatory requirements, to identify the OHS risks faced by the organisation, to examine all existing OHS management practices, processes and procedures and to evaluate feedback from the investigation of previous accidents, incidents and emergencies. You are now in a much better position to develop an OHSMS compliant with OHSAS 18001. Hazard Identification, Risk Assessment and Risk Control These processes and their outputs should form the basis of the whole OHSMS and need to be documented. The complexity of these processes will depend on your organisation, size, workplace situations, nature and significance of the hazards. These activities need to be conducted continuously. Although these requirements apply to all organisations, it is not the purpose of OHSAS 18001 to force small organisations with very limited hazards to undertake complex hazard identification, risk assessment and risk control exercises. Legal and other requirements You will need to develop a procedure that enables you to identify and access the legal and other OHS requirements that relate to your organisation. This procedure will enable you to know when one of these requirements changes and when a new regulation needs to be addressed. Objectives, Targets and Management Programmes You will need to establish OHS Objectives to ensure that the OHS policy is achieved. Ideally, they should be specific, measurable and timely objectives and targets. For example: To plan and implement an action plan, to reduce site transport risks to a level as low as reasonably practicable within six months. Increase usage rate of hearing protection in designated hearing protection zones, from the present value of 20% to 100% within one year. The Objectives are achieved through the implementation of Management Programmes. Management Programmes are plans that define what will be done, who will do what and by when.

IMPLEMENTATION AND OPERATION

To implement and operate an effective OHSMS, you will need to: Define the roles, responsibilities and authorities of staff with regard to OHS, including the appointment of a member of top management as a management representative. Ensure that appropriate training is provided to ensure people are competent. Ensure that there is effective internal and external communication. Describe how the management system is structured and develop the necessary OHS processes and procedures. Ensure that OHSMS documentation is controlled so that current versions are in use. Ensure that risk control measures are being properly managed, including the development of appropriate procedures and the maintenance of records. Establish, maintain and test a process for dealing with emergency situations.

I M P L E M E N TAT I O N

CHECKING AND CORRECTIVE ACTION

You will need a process for monitoring and measuring. This process will give you the confidence that you are in control of your OHS risks and provide a mechanism to determine your progress towards achieving the OHS Objectives.

Procedures are required for the handling and investigation of accidents, incidents and nonconformances in order to eliminate the actual or potential cause. OHS system audits are required to assess the systems suitability and effectiveness. These audits provide evidence that the OHS is working and that you are in control.

YOU WILL NEED A PROCESS FOR MONITORING AND MEASURING

MANAGEMENT REVIEW
Top management will need to meet periodically to ensure that the OHSMS is suitable and effective. This will include a review of your OHS policy and performance against the OHS Objectives. The review will also consider the changing business environment and the future management programme.

WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS OF REGISTRATION TO OHSAS 18001?

BSI Management Systems offers independent third-party registration to OHSAS 18001. Compliance with the specification is determined via a phased programme of assessment visits and an ongoing schedule of surveillance visits. Registration to OHSAS 18001 provides confidence for your stakeholders, by proving that you have implemented an OHSMS to manage risks, that this system meets a recognised international specification and has been shown to deliver OHS improvement. Other benefits include Value-added assessment visits, which can highlight opportunities for improvement. The use of a recognised registration mark. Potential differentiation in the marketplace. Increasing customer requirement for thirdparty registration.

PROVIDES CONFIDENCE FOR YOUR STAKEHOLDERS

OHSAS 18001. JUST ONE OF A SUITE OF MANAGEMENT SYSTEM MODELS

Standards are becoming increasingly compatible and the latest management philosophy is to integrate all of the applicable standards into a single management system. An integrated management system can be audited and assessed through BSI's Integrated Assessment Service (IAS).

A FAMILY OF STANDARDS
BSI Management Systems can integrate OHSAS 18001 assessment visits with:

ISO 9001
Quality Management

ISO 14001
Environmental Management

BS 7799-2:2002
Information Security Management

ISO/TS 16949
Automotive Quality Management

CMSAS 86:2000
Complaints Management

HOW BSI CAN HELP?

Training BSI Management Systems offer a complete range of training courses for OHSMS and related areas, including introduction, implementing and auditor courses. For more information on BSI Training courses, please visit: www.bsi-training.com/ohs

Registration For further information on OHSAS 18001 registration and how we can guide you through the process, please visit our website: www.bsi-emea.com/ohs

Communication Days BSI Management Systems run an annual program of FREE Communication Days throughout the UK. These events provide a briefing on developments in management system standards and their associated assessment schemes. OHSAS 18001 is one of the schemes that is covered. For more information visit: www.bsi-emea.com/commdays

For all enquiries relating to OHSAS 18001, please contact +44 (0)20 8996 7720.

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