An Occupational Health and Safety Management System provides a framework for managing OHS responsibilities. The framework is designed to allow companies to become more efficient and operate in a more integrated manner. Specifically, OHS management systems specify a process of achieving continuously improved OHS performance and complying with legislation.

OHSAS 18001 - ‘Occupational Health and Safety Management Specifications’ is an
international occupational health and safety management system specification, embracing BS8800, AS/NZ 4801, NSAI SR 320 and other publications. It was developed in response to the need for organisations to meet their health and safety obligations effectively and to remove the confusion caused by the proliferation of certifiable OH&S specifications. OHSAS 18001 has been developed to be compatible with the ISO 9001 (Quality) and ISO 14001 (Environmental) management systems standards. Therefore it facilitates the integration of quality, environmental and occupational health and safety management systems, for organisations wishing to do so. As with ISO 14001 and ISO 9001, Quality Foundation, offers advice and support for training and consultancy for interested organizations.

 OHSAS 18001 does not state specific OH&S performance criteria, nor does it give detailed specifications for the design of a management system. OHSAS 18001 is not a legislative requirement or a guide to implementation.

To compliment OHSAS 18001, the British Standards Institute published OHSAS 18002 ‘Occupational Health and Safety Management Systems Guidelines’ to assist in the implementation of OHSAS 18001. This explains the requirements of the specification and shows companies how to work towards implementation and registration. By adopting an this package, it will allow companies to:

• Identify elements of business that impact on health and safety and gain access to the relevant legislation
• Produce objectives for improvement and a management program to achieve them, with regular reviews for continual improvement

The OHSAS 18001 Specification follows the Plan-Do-Check-Review cycle, with an emphasis on continual improvement. The following steps form the basic structure of the management system and link into the structure of OHSAS 18001.

OHSAS 18001 has been designed to be compatible with ISO 9001 and ISO 14001, to help your organization meet their health and safety obligations in an efficient manner.
The following key areas are addressed by OHSAS 18001:

• Planning for hazard identification, risk assessment and risk control
• OHSAS management programme
• Structure and responsibility
• Training, awareness and competence
• Consultation and communication
• Operational control
• Emergency preparedness and response
• Performance measuring, monitoring and improvement

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The OHSAS specification is applicable to any organisation that wishes to:

• Establish an OH&S management system to eliminate or minimise risk to employees and other interested parties who may be exposed to OH&S risks associated with its activities
• Assure itself of its conformance with its stated OH&S policy
• Demonstrate such conformance to others
• Implement, maintain and continually improve an OH&S management system
• Make a self-determination and declaration of conformance with this OHSAS specification.
• Seek certification/registration of its OH&S management system by an external organisation.
• Effectively manage the safety risks
• Identify H&S hazards and determine risks
• Identify priorities and objectives
• Establish structures and programmes
• Facilitate planning, monitoring, CA, auditing and review activities
• Continually improve H&S performance improve regulatory compliance
• Demonstrate due diligence and avoid litigation
• Improve operational effectiveness, absenteeism and minimize disruption
• Reduce costs & meet customer demands

This standard prescribes requirements for an occupational health and safety (OH&S) management systems, to enable an organization to formulate a policy and objectives, taking into account legislative requirements and information about significant hazards and risks, which the organization can control and over which it can be expected to have an influence, to protect its employees and others, whose health and safety may be affected by the activities of the organization. It does not itself state specific safety performance criteria.

The extent of application will depend on such factors as the OH&S policy of the organization, the nature of its activities and the conditions in which it operates. Salient features of the changes in the revised standard are given below.
i) OH&S policy has been rationalized and focuses on Top management's commitment
- to improve health and safety of the workers,
- to comply with the applicable OH&S legislations, and
- for continual improvement in its OH&S performance
ii) A major thrust has been given to the element of Continual improvement in the areas of OH&S management system.
iii) Occupational health monitoring within the OH&S management system has been made clearer in this revision. This standard requires the organization to establish, implement and maintain procedures to monitor and measure OH&S performance on a regular basis to cover the following amongst other key parameters:
a) Proactive measures of performance that monitor compliance with the OH&S management programme, operational criteria and applicable legislation and regulatory requirements; and
b) Reactive measures of performance to monitor accidents, ill health including health surveillance, incidents (including near-misses) and other historical evidence of deficient OH&S performance
iv) Periodic evaluation of compliance with legal requirements and other requirements to which the organization subscribes is incorporated as a new element of the standard.
The unique feature of the standard is the stipulation of Initial OH&S review, Design and
Engineering, Purchasing and Critical Incident Recovery Plan which are considered critical for
the success of an OH&S Management system.

Amongst others IS 15656:2006 Hazard identification and risk analysis - Code of Practice is an
important adjunct to IS 18001:2007

Consultants of Quality Foundation follow a Structured approach (Process flow diagram for System Development) for developing ISO 18001:2007 Occupational Health and Safety Management  Systems through consultancy and training services, involving all concerned personnel (Scope of Consultancy) there by developing the competence in personnel for documenting, implementing, maintaining and also aiming for continual improvement during and after completion of consultancy, training and handholding services.