OHSAS 18001:Occupational health and safety

management systems - Specification

Karen Lawrence

OHSAS 18001 vs HSG 65

OHSAS 18001: Policy – Planning – Implement & Operate – Check & Correct – Man. Review – Continual Improvement

HSG 65: Policy – Organisation – Plan & Implement – Measure Perf. - Review Perf. - Audit

1. Scope

• This OHSAS specification gives requirements for an occupational health and safety (OH&S) management system, to enable an organisation to control its OH&S risks and improve its performance

• It does not state specific OH&S performance criteria, not does it give detailed specifications for the design of a management system

This OHSAS Specification is applicable to any organization that wishes to:

• establish an OH&S management system• implement, maintain and continually improve an

OH&S management system• assure itself of its conformance with its O&HS

policy• demonstrate such conformance to others• seek certification by an external organization• make a self-determination and declaration of

conformance

Policy (4.2)

• Authorised by top management• Overall objectives clearly stated• Commitment to continual improvement of H&S

performance clearly stated• Legal compliance as a minimum• Relevant and appropriate• Communicated with intent to make all

employees aware of their responsibilities• Documented, implemented and maintained• Available to interested parties• Reviewed

Planning 4.3

• Planning Inputs– Hazard identification (4.3.1)– Risk assessment (4.3.1)– Meets legal and other requirements (4.3.2)

• Planning Outputs– Risk control measures (4.3.1)– H&S Objectives (4.3.3)– H&S management programme (4.3.4)

Implementation and Operation (4.4)

• Structure and Responsibility (4.4.1)– Define, document and communicate roles and

responsibilities which effect H&S– Responsibility rests with top management

• Training, Awareness and Competence (4.4.2)– Training should take account of levels of

responsibility, ability, literacy and risk– Procedures should ensure H&S awareness

and competence at all levels

• Consultation and Communication (4.4.3)– Procedures in place to communicate pertinent

info to and from employees and others– The procedures should be documented– Employees consulted on arrangements,

changes, review of policies etc– Employees should know who their H&S rep(s)

and who the H&S management appointee is

• Documentation (4.4.4)– Maintained and stored in a suitable medium– Describes management system– Directs to other documentation and how to

use it

• Document and Data Control (4.4.5)– Procedures will be in place to ensure all

documents can be found and are reviewed– Current versions should be available where

needed and obsolete versions removed

• Operational Control (4.4.6)– Plan to control operations and activities

associated with identified risks– Procedures where required which stipulate

operating criteria– Procedures related to risks of goods and

services and for communication with suppliers– Procedures for workplace and process design

in order to eliminate or reduce risks at source

• Emergency Preparedness and Response (4.4.7) – Plans and procedures to identify the potential

for, and responses to, incidents and emergency situations, and for preventing and mitigating the likely illness and injury that may be associated with them

– They shall be reviewed, particularly after incidents

– They shall be tested periodically where practicable

Checking and Corrective Action (4.5)

• Performance measurement & monitoring (4.5.1)– Procedures should be in place to monitor how

well H&S objectives are met– Quantitative and Qualitative – Proactive (compliance with law, man sys etc)– Reactive (accident, ill health etc)– Equipment required for monitoring should be

maintained and calibrated

• Accidents, incidents, non-conformances and preventative action (4.5.2)– Procedures, responsibilities and authority for:– handling & investigating accidents, incidents

and non-conformances– taking action to mitigate consequences– ensuring prevent / correct actions are taken– confirming the effectiveness of the actions

• Records and Record Management (4.5.3)– Procedures should identify & maintain H&S

records – H&S records should be legible, identifiable,

traceable and stored in a retrievable way

• Audit (4.5.4)– Audit programme should determine;– if the H&S system conforms to planned arrangements

& the std.– if it has been implemented and maintained properly– If it is effective in meeting policy and objectives– It should review the results of previous audits– It should provide information to management– It should be based on previous audit and risk

assessment results– If possible, the auditor should be independent of the

audited activity

4.6 Management Review

• Senior management should regularly review the H&S management system

• Review should determine if the system delivers policy, objectives and operational control

Simplified Model of OHSAS 18001

CONTINUAL IMPROVEMENT IN OHS PERFORMANCE

POLICY

MONITOR

OBJECTIVESREVIEW

PROGRAMME

Assess Risks

Legal & Otherrequirements

IdentifyHazards

ControlMeasures

Tolerableor

Intolerable

EliminateRisk

ResidualRisk

Corrective &Preventitive

Action

INTERNAL AUDIT