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OHSAS 18001 is an
Occupational Health and Safety
Assessment Series (OHSAS) for
occupational health and safety (OH&S)
management systems created to enable
organizations to control occupational
health and safety risks and to improve
performances.
OHSAS 18001 is
designed to place a proactive and
preventative emphasis on risk control
factors by identifying and assessing the
likelihood of hazards in the workplace.
OHSAS 18001 can be implemented by
organizations of all sizes and in any
industry.
An
organization's conformance to OHSAS
18001 safeguards that employees, clients
and all parties in question are exposed
to as few risks as possible, while
third-party certification authenticates
that an organization has taken steps to
avoid accidents and hazardous situations
using a comprehensive and effectively
implemented system.
Although many
third-party organizations provide
non-accredited certification to OHSAS
18001, only a handful, including TÜV,
are capable of providing accredited
certifications. Elements of an
occupational health and safety
management system:
• Occupational Health
and Safety Policy
• Planning
• Implementation and
Operations
• Checking and
Corrective Actions
• Management Review
• Continual
Improvement
An effective
occupational health and safety
management systems should:
• Result in the
identification of hazards and assessment
of risks in the work environment.
• Provide for the
development of methods to eliminate
hazards and risks.
• Result in the
implementations of measures to evaluate
improvement.
Benefits of an
effective occupational health and safety
management system:
• Reduction of
accidents resulting in death or
disabilities.
• Reduction of the
risk of major accidents occurring.
• Reduction of down
time.
• Reduction of lost
revenue due to production disruption.
Even though OHSAS
18001 is not recognized as a standard by
ISO, it is internationally recognized by
more and more international
organizations, encompassing a variety of
industries requiring their suppliers to
be OHSAS certified.
Additionally, since
OHSAS is similar in structure to ISO
9001 and 14001, it is possible for an
organization to integrate OHSAS 18001
with ISO 9001and/or ISO 14001allowing a
single audit for any combination through
TÜV.
It is important to
note that conformance / accredited
certification will not eliminate all
risks and does not release an
organization from its obligation to
fulfill any additional legal
requirements. OHSAS 18001 certificates
are valid for three years, with
surveillance audits held annually. |
