7. Ohsas 18001:2007 Occupational Health And Safety Management Systems.

The second edition of this OHSAS Standard 18001:2007 is focused on clarification of the first edition, and has taken due consideration of the provisions of ISO 9001, ISO14001, ILO-OSH, and other OHAS management system standards or publications to enhance the compatibility of these standards for the benefit of the user community.

There is an important distinction between this OHSAS Standard 18001:2007, which describes the requirements for an organization's OHAS management system and can be used for certification/registration and/or self-declaration of an organization's OHAS management system, and a non-certifiable guideline intended to provide generic assistance to an organization for establishing, implementing or improving an OHAS management system. OHAS management encompasses a full range of issues, including those with strategic and competitive implications. Demonstration of successful implementation of this OHSAS Standard 18001:2007 can be used by an organization to assure interested parties that an appropriate OHAS management system is in place.

OHSAS 18001 has been developed to be compatible with the ISO 9001:2000 (Quality) and ISO 14001:2004 (Environmental) management systems standards, in order to facilitate the integration of quality, environmental and occupational health and safety management systems by organizations, should they wish to do so.

This Occupational Health and Safety Assessment Series (OHSAS) Standard 18001:2007 gives requirements for an occupational health and safety (OHAS) management system, to enable an organization to control its OHAS risks and improve its OHAS performance. It does not state specific OHAS performance criteria, nor does it give detailed specifications for the design of a management system.

This OHSAS Standard 18001:2007 is applicable to any organization that wishes to:

1. establish an OHAS management system to eliminate or minimize risk to personnel and other interested parties who may be exposed to OHAS hazards associated with its activities

2. implement, maintain and continually improve an OHAS management system;

3. assure itself of its conformity with its stated OHAS policy;

4. demonstrate conformity with this OHSAS Standard 18001:2007 by:

1) making a self-determination and self-declaration, or

2) seeking confirmation of its conformance by parties having an interest in the organization, such as customers, or

3) seeking confirmation of its self-declaration by a party external to the organization, or

4) seeking certification/registration of its OHAS management system by an external organization.

All the requirements in this OHSAS Standard 18001:2007 are intended to be incorporated into any OHAS management system. The extent of the application will depend on such factors as the OHAS policy of the organization, the nature of its activities and the risks and complexity of its operations.

This OHSAS Standard 18001:2007 is intended to address occupational health and safety, and is not intended to address other health and safety areas such as employee wellness programs, product safety, property damage or environmental impacts.

This OHSAS Standard 18001:2007 is based on the methodology known as Plan-Do-Check-Act (PDCA). PDCA can be briefly described as follows:

• Plan: establish the objectives and processes necessary to deliver results in accordance with the organization's OHAS policy.

• Do: implement the processes.

• Check: monitor and measure processes against OHAS policy, objectives, legal and other requirements, and report the results.

• Act: take actions to continually improve OHAS performance

The organization shall establish, document, implement, maintain and continually improve an OHAS management system in accordance with the requirements of this OHSAS Standard 18001:2007 and determine how it will fulfil these requirements.

The organization shall define and document the scope of its OHAS management system.

This Standard includes such elements as:

1 OHAS policy

2 Planning

2.1 Hazard identification, risk assessment and determining controls

2.2 Legal and other requirements

2.3 Objectives and programme(s)

3 Implementation and operation

3.1 Resources, roles, responsibility, accountability and authority

3.2 Competence, training and awareness

3.3 Communication, participation and consultation

3.4 Documentation

3.5 Control of documents

3.6 Operational control

3.7 Emergency preparedness and response

4 Checking

4.1 Performance measurement and monitoring

4.2 Evaluation of compliance

4.3 Incident investigation, nonconformity, corrective action and preventive action

4.4 Control of records

4.5 Internal audit

5 Management review