OHSAS 18000 Series of International Standards for Occupational Health and Safety Management Systems

This is a relatively new International specification for Occupational Health and Safety Management Systems, published in 1999 and corresponding to BS 8800. In structure and approach, it has been developed to be compatible with bothe the ISO9001 and ISO14001 management system standards.

OHSAS 18001 specifications require businesses to demonstrate that their systems for managing Health and Safety pro-actively seek to eliminate or minimise risks to employees, that they comply with all national & international legal requirements and continuously strives to improve their performance in the areas of Health & Safety. As with ISO 9000 and ISO 14000, company systems are subject to regular external review by an independent Accreditation Body.

Whilst BS 8800 provided guidelines for an effective Occupational Health System, OHSAS 18001 provides an assessment specification compatible with established standards for quality and environmental management systems. Organisations may progress from one standard to the next, each being assessed and certified independently. In this way an Integrated Management System (IMS) is achieved by introducing defined standards of excellence in each area and a Performance Management System (PMS) which measures and monitors total performance improvement.