  
ohsas 18001
Occupational Health & Safety Management
General
OHSAS 18001 is an international specification developed by certification bodies. Based on BS 8800. The specification is clear to read and to understand. ITC is specialist division has always been a leader in environmental and occupational health and safety certification.
What is OHSAS 18001
OHSAS 18001 is a consensus standard developed in 1999 by an independent group of national standards bodies and certification bodies. OHSAS stands for Occupational Health and Safety Assessment Series.
OHSAS 18001 is structured the same way as ISO 14001, the environmental management system standard, and has essentially the same elements. It was specifically developed to be compatible with ISO 9001, the quality management system standard, and ISO 14001 to allow companies to develop and register integrated quality, environmental and occupational safety and health management systems.
Benefits of OHSAS Certification
Like registration to ISO 9001 and ISO 14001, registration to OHSAS 18001 can offer companies a number of benefits. Organizations that have implemented a system to improve the management of health and safety practices have reported reduced improved employee safety awareness, fewer accidents and reduced costs. In addition, OHSAS 18001 provides a structure companies can use to integrate quality, environmental and safety and health program management for increased management efficiencies. Many companies find they need to address health and safety elements as they implement ISO 14001 management systems because of the strong interconnection between environmental and safety and health programs in areas such as emergency planning and risk assessment.
Elements of the OHSAS 18001 Standard
The elements of OHSAS 18001 are similar to the elements of ISO 14001 and include:
- Developing an OHS Policy
- Hazard Identification & Risk Assessment
- Identifying Legal Requirements
- Setting OHS Objectives
- Establishing an OHS Management Program
- Training Employees
- Implementing OHS Control Measures
- Emergency Planning
- Document and Record Control
- Internal Audit Programs
- Corrective and Preventative Action
- Management Involvement and Management Review
Steps to OHSAS 18001 Certification
The process for establishing an OHSAS 18001 management system is below:
- Preliminary review of existing programs and systems
- Identification of hazards and applicable laws and regulations
- Developing new procedures
- Training personnel
- Implementing new programs such as internal audit and management review
- Seeking certification of the OHS program
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