Topic 1 OHSAS 18001 Implementation

LO 6.1: Distinguish the development of OHSAS 18001 Occupational Health & Safety Management
System in integrating with the ISO 9001 (Quality) and ISO 14001(Environmental) management systems
standards for easier integration of quality, environmental and occupational health & safety management
systems onboard ships.

OHSAS 18001

Certificate of conformity to OHSAS 18001:2007

OHSAS 18001, Occupational Health and Safety Assessment Series (officially BS OHSAS 18001),
was a British Standard for occupational health and safety management systems. Compliance with
it enabled organizations to demonstrate that they had a system in place for occupational health and
safety. BSI cancelled BS OHSAS 18001 to adopt ISO 45001 as BS ISO 45001. ISO 45001 was
published in March 2018 by the International Organization for Standardization. Organizations that
are certified to BS OHSAS 18001 can migrate to ISO 45001 by March 2021 if they want to retain a
recognized certification.

Origins
Organizations worldwide recognize the need to control and improve health and safety performance
and do so with occupational health and safety management systems (OHSMS). However, before
1999 there was an increase of national standards and proprietary certification schemes to choose
from. This caused confusion and fragmentation in the market and undermined the credibility of
individual schemes.
Development
Recognizing this deficit, an international collaboration called the Occupational Health and Safety
Assessment Series (OHSAS) Project Group was formed to create a single unified approach. The
Group comprised representatives from national standards bodies, academic bodies, accreditation
bodies, certification bodies and occupational safety and health institutions, with the UK’s national
standards body, BSI Group, providing the secretariat. Drawing on the best of existing standards
and schemes, the OHSAS Project Group published the OHSAS 18000 Series in 1999. The Series
consisted of two specifications: 18001 provided requirements for an OHS management system and
18002 gave implementation guidelines.
Adoption as British Standard[
BSI Group decided to adopt OHSAS 18001 (OHSMS) and OHSAS 18002 (guidance specification)
as British standards.
BS OHSAS 18001 was updated in July 2007 in particular to better reflect ILO-OSH guidelines and
additionally, the "health" component of "health and safety" was given greater emphasis.
Since the publication of the International Standard for Occupational Health and Safety
Management Systems ISO 45001:2018, BSI canceled its BS OHSAS 1800x standards and
adopted the ISO standard as BS ISO 45001.
Disambiguation
The OHSAS 18000 standards were written and published wholly outside of the International
Organization for Standardization (ISO) framework. To avoid confusion, ISO 18000 does exist – but
it is a radio-frequency identification standard.
OHSAS 18001 Occupational Health and Safety
Management System

Introduction
Healthy employees are one of the most critical key factors for business success. For this purpose,
businesses should ensure a safe and healthy work environment for their employees. A workplace
that does not frequently check on its work setting can lead to serious accidents resulting in
illnesses, injuries, damages or loss of lives. According to the International Labor Organization
estimations, over one million work-related deaths occur annually and hundreds of millions of
workers suffer from workplace accidents and occupational exposure to hazardous substances
worldwide.

Occupational health and safety are a cross-disciplinary area that deals with conditions and factors
that affect, or could affect, the health and safety of employees, visitors, or any other person in the
workplace. It involves interactions among many subjects, including medicine, hygiene, public
health, safety engineering, toxicology, ergonomics, etc.

Organizations of all kinds are increasingly concerned with achieving and demonstrating sound
OH&S performance by controlling their OH&S risks. An effective way to foster a safe and healthy
work environment is to integrate OH&S risk management into an organization’s daily business
operations. The success of the system depends on the commitment from all levels and functions of
the organization, especially from the top management.
OHSAS 18001 is an International Standard intended to provide organizations with the elements of
an effective OH&S management system. It was created by world’s leading national standard
bodies, certification bodies, and specialist consultancies.

An overview of OHSAS 18001:2007

OHSAS 18001 specifies requirements for an OH&S management system to enable an organization
to develop and implement a policy and objectives, which take into account legal requirements and
information about OH&S risks.

OHSAS 18001 is intended to provide organizations with the elements of an effective OH&S
management system that can be integrated with other management requirements and help
organizations achieve OH&S and economic objectives.
OH&S management is improved with OHSAS 18001 by incorporating:

 Greater emphasis on setting the objectives, monitoring performance and metrics;

 Clearer expectations on management; and
 More careful planning for and preparing the resources needed for ensuring occupational
health and safety

OHSAS 18001 applies to all types and sizes of organizations that wish to:

1. Establish an OH&S management system to eliminate or minimize risks to personnel and

other interested parties who could be exposed to OH&S hazards associated with its
activities;
2. Implement, maintain and continually improve an OH&S management system;
3. Assure itself of its conformity with its stated OH&S policy;
4. Demonstrate conformity with this OHSAS Standard by:

 Making a self-determination and self-declaration,

 Seeking confirmation of its conformance by parties having an interest in the organization,
such as customers,
 Seeking confirmation of its self-declaration by a party external to the organization, and
 Seeking certification/registration of its OH&S management system by an external
organization.

OHSAS 18001 has been drafted in accordance with the rules given in the ISO/IEC Directives, Part
2. This means OHSAS 18001 is totally aligned with all other management system standards
developed by ISO.

How to ensure occupational health and safety?

Organizations should comply with the following requirements included in the main clauses of this
International Standard to help ensure health and safety within the work environment.

Key clauses of OHSAS 18001:2007

 OHSAS 18001 is organized into the following main clauses:

Clause 4.1: General requirements

Clause 4.2: OH&S policy
Clause 4.3: Planning
Clause 4.4: Implementation and operation
Clause 4.5: Checking
Clause 4.6: Management review

Each of these key activities is overviewed below.

Clause 4.1: General requirements

Organizations shall establish and maintain an OH&S management system which meets the
requirements of this International Standard.

Clause 4.2: OH&S policy

An OH&S policy has to be authorized to state the organization’s OH&S objectives and its
commitment to continual improvement

Clause 4.3: Planning

The planning phase of the OH&S management system is critical since the organization’s
continuous improvement and performance depends on carrying out the following requirements:

 Analyzing OH&S hazards and selecting controls,

 Respecting legal and other requirements,
  Establishing OH&S objectives and programs

Clause 4.4: Implementation and operation

Top management of the organization shall carry out the following requirements and actions to
ensure the effective implementation and operation of the OHSMS.

 Establish responsibility and accountability,

 Ensure competence and provide training,
 Establish communication and participation,
 Document the organization’s OHSMS,
 Control the organization’s OH&S documents,
 Implement operational OH&S control measures, and
 Establish an OH&S emergency management process.

Clause 4.5: Checking

Once the OHSMS is implemented, OHSAS 18001 requires monitoring of the system and
measuring the OH&S performance on a regular basis. These activities include:

 qualitative and quantitative measures, appropriate to the needs of the organization;

 monitoring of the extent to which the organization’s OH&S objectives are met;
 monitoring the effectiveness of OH&S controls;
  proactive measures of performance that monitor conformance with the OH&S programms,
controls and operational criteria;
 reactive measures of performance that monitor historical evidence of deficient OH&S
performance;
 recording of data and results of monitoring and measurement sufficient to facilitate
subsequent corrective action and preventive action.

Clause 4.6: Management review

The suitability, adequacy, and effectiveness of the OH&S management system shall be reviewed
by top management, which then shall be documented.

Link of OHSAS 18001 with other standards

OHSAS 18001 is developed in compatibility with the ISO 9001:2000 Quality Management System
standard and the ISO 14001:2004 Environmental Management System standard, in order to
facilitate the integration of quality, environmental and occupational health and safety management
systems by organizations.

In addition to the OHSAS 18001 Occupational Health and Safety Standard, several other related
standards include:

 British Standards Institute: BS 8800:1996

 International Labour Organization: ILO-OSH:2001
 American National Standards Institute: ANSI Z10
 Spanish Association of Standardisation and Certification (AENOR): UNE 81900:1996
  Polish National Labour Inspection: Worker Protection Programme PL 9407, 1996
 Health and Safety Executive: HSG 65

OHSAS 18001 opposed to ISO 9001

This OH&S Standard does not include requirements that are similar to other management systems,
such as those for quality, environmental, security, or financial management; though its elements
can be aligned or integrated with other management systems.

It is possible for an organization to adapt its existing management system(s) in order to establish
an OH&S management system that conforms to the requirements of this OHSAS Standard. It is
pointed out, however, that the application of various elements of the management system might
differ depending on the intended purpose and the interested parties involved.

What are the business benefits of an occupational health and safety management system?
As with all the major undertakings within an organization, it is essential to gain the backing and
sponsorship of the executive management. By far, the best way to achieve this is to illustrate the
positive gains of having an effective occupational health and safety management process in place,
rather than highlight the negative aspects of the contrary.

Today an effective occupational health and safety management system is not about being forced
into taking action to address external pressures, but its importance relies on recognizing the
positive value of occupational health and safety management when good practice is embedded
throughout your organization.
The adoption of an effective occupational health and safety management system within an
organization will have benefits in a number of areas, examples of which include:

1. Providing a safe and healthy workplace for employees;

2. Effective and efficient management of resources;
3. Demonstrable OH&S commitment to stakeholders;
4. Lowering the risk of losing investors and customers;
5. Increasing the reputation of the organization in the community and beyond;
6. Increasing the opportunities for improvement;
7. Reduction of costs related to OH&S accidents;
8. Compliance to national, regional and international laws and regulations;
9. Building trustful relationships with local and national authorities;
10. Usage of the OHSAS 18001 as a marketing tool;
11. Resource conservation; and
12. Increasing worker participation in OH&S consultation.

Why is PECB a worthy choice?

Implementation of an OHSMS with IMS2 methodology

Considering the well documented benefits of implementing an Occupational Health and Safety
Management System based on OHSAS 18001, makes the proposal easier to decide on.

Most companies now realize that it is not sufficient to implement a generic, “one size fits all”
occupational health and safety plan. For an effective response, with respect to maintaining the
occupational health and safety management system, such a plan must be customized to fit to a
company. A more difficult task is the compilation of an implementation plan that balances the
requirements of the standard, the business needs and the certification deadline.

There is no single blueprint for implementing OHSAS 18001 that will work for every company, but
there are some common steps that will allow you to balance the frequent conflicting requirements
and prepare you for a successful certification audit.

PECB has developed a methodology (please see example below) for implementing a management
system; the “Integrated Implementation Methodology for Management Systems and Standards
(IMS2)”, and it is based on applicable best practices. This methodology is based on the guidelines
of ISO standards and also meets the requirements of OHSAS 18001.
IMS2 is based on the PDCA cycle which is divided into four phases: Plan, Do, Check and Act.
Each phase has between 2 and 8 steps for a total of 21 steps. In turn, these steps are divided into
101 activities and tasks. This ‘Practical Guide’ considers the key phases of the implementation
project from the starting point to the finishing point and suggests the appropriate ‘best practice’ for
each one, while directing you to further helpful resources as you embark on your OHSAS 18001
journey.

The sequence of steps can be changed (inversion, merge). For example, the implementation of the
management procedure or documented information can be done before the understanding of the
organization. Many processes are iterative because of the need for progressive development
throughout the implementation project; for example, communication and training.

By following a structured and effective methodology, an organization can be sure it covers all
minimum requirements for the implementation of a management system. Whatever methodology
used, the organization must adapt it to its particular context (requirements, size of the organization,
scope, objectives, etc.) and not apply it like a cookbook.

Steps for obtaining a PECB certification

To ensure that organizations or individuals achieve planned and desired OH&S results, the
following steps will serve as guidance on how to become PECB Certified on OHSAS 18001 –
Occupational Health and Safety Management System.
References
1. ^ "ISO 45001". www.iso.org. ISO official website. Retrieved 25 September 2018.
2. ^ "Let the migration begin". ISO. Retrieved 2018-03-13.
3. ^ "International Labour Office Report, Page 2, Footnote 3" (PDF).
4. ^ "Occupational Health and Safety (OH&S) Management Systems,Standards and Certificates Survey -
to 31 December 2005" (PDF).
5. https://pecb.com/whitepaper/ohsas-18001-occupational-health-and-safety-management-system