OHSAS 18001 Certification
What means OHSAS 18001?
Simply speaking: what ISO 9000 means for quality care and ISO 14001 means for environmental care, can OHSAS 18001 mean for safety. It is the first safety management norm that is accepted worldwide and that is supported by the important certification organizations.
OHSAS stands for ‘Occopations Health and Safety Assessment Series’. The OHSAS 18001 specification was published May 15, 1999. It is based on the systematics of the ISO 14001 and the ISO 9000. The guidelines for the implementation of OHSAS 18001 are described in the OHSAS 18002. The 18002 has only been published February 15, 2000. You can find information on the OHSAS 18001 and 18002 norm at the BIN or the BSI (www.bsi.org.uk).
Why OHSAS 18001
The main part of the already existing safety management systems (as ISA 2000, SQAS, NPR 5001, ISRS, etc.) are local initiatives. The working area of these local initiatives reaches usually not further than to one or a few countries. There are for example the Australian/New Zealand Standard AS/NZS 4801, the National Standard Authority of Ireland NSAI – SR320 and the well-known VCA.
A transgressing safety management system as OHSAS 18001, will be an important tool for the reduction and control of risks. An accurate safety management system stimulates the task health care and the quality of work by ongoing improvements.
Advantages OHSAS 18001
A safety management system as OHSAS 18001 can help you among other things to:
- To approach systematically task health care and the health and safety of the workers.
- To evaluate your welfare policy (self assessment of third party assessment)
- To improve internal communication about health and safety
- To create a higher sense of responsibility
- To increase the motivation level of your workers.
- To limit bad publicity in case of an accident, if your company can prove that they work with the highest safety management systems.
- To prevent work accidents effectively
- To reduce the cost involved with an accident, occupational disease and stress as such.
