Article is from
Electrical & Mechanical Contractor
April 2002, p. 47

Articles & Info

Safety at work

Occupational health and safety needs careful attention to reduce the risks. Chris Ottaway explains a standard that may help.

The importance of managing occupational health and safety is recognised by all interested parties - employers, staff, clients, suppliers, insurers, shareholders, the community, contractors, and regulatory agencies. One way that organisations ran control such risks and improve performance is by following OHSAS 18001: 1999.

The document is a management system standard for occupational health and safety. It was released in April 1999, having been developed in response to urgent customer demand for a recognisable occupational health and safety standard against which management systems could be assessed and certified. It is compatible with ISO 9001: 2000 and ISO 14001: 1996. OHSAS 18002: 2000 is the guideline for the implementation of OHSAS 18001.

The specification takes a structured approach to safety management. Firms are encouraged to be pro-active and preventive by the identification of hazards and the evaluation and control of work-related risks. It can be used by organisations of all sizes, regardless of the nature of their activities or location.

Organisations can now achieve third party certification for their occupational health and safety management system. OHSAS 18001 is made up of the following components:

• occupational health and safety policy - an organisation defines its OH&S policy through a policy statement and ensures commitment to its OH&S management system;
• planning - a plan should b formulated to fulfil the OH&S policy;
• implementation - for effective implementation an organisation must develop the capabilities and support mechanisms necessary to achieve its OH&S policy objectives and targets;
• checking and corrective action - OH&S performance should be measured, monitored and evaluated;
• management review - the OH&S management system should be reviewed and continually improved, with the objective of improving its overall performance.

Benefits to be gained
OHSAS 18001 is a sound solution to the ever increasing challenge facing most organisations from high injury and illness, lost work days, increasing occupational health and safety regulations, costly medical claims, staff retention and employee satisfaction.

Other costs facing organisations include, but are not limited to, investigation time, wages paid for lost time, training replacements, extra supervisory time, clerical time, decreased output of injured worker upon return, and the loss of business and goodwill.

Traditional occupational health and safety management usually meant reacting to incidents rather than planning for the control of the risks that compose OHSAS 18001: 1999.

Much of the improvement is attributed to employee education and awareness of safety issues and understanding This increased awareness as been the key factor for organisations using OHSAS 18001 in saving legal expenses, building damage, tool and equipment damage, product and material damaage, and production delays and interruptions.

Bottom line improvements for organisations that have a registered OH&S management system include efficient organisational discipline, employee awareness and satisfaction, recognition by insurers, lower compensation and medical costs, and increased control of regulatory issues.

Some organisations may choose to register only their occupational health and safety management system to OHSAS 18001, while others can gain advantages by integrating OH&S with other management systems.

There is a close correlation in the process of working toward the assessment and registration of different management systems. The implementation of environmental standard ISO 14001 is usually simplified if an organisation is ISO 9000 certified. Similarly, most organisations that seek or have ISO 14001 certification will have the foundations to OHSAS 18001. Managing occupational health and safety risks by OHSAS 18001 is facilitated by the fact that ISO 14001 provides the framework.

OHSAS 18001 can be used as a standalone specification or may be integrated into an organisation's quality and environmental management system.

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Chris Ottaway manages. the ECA's free management systems helpline for members (tel: 01277 363653). He is md of Ottaway & Associates.