OHSAS 18001:1999 Occupational health and safety Management System:

ISO Consultants provides OHSAS 18001:1999 is an assessment specification for Occupational Health and Safety Management Systems certification.

It enables organizations to manage operational risks and improve performance. It also provides guidance on how to manage the health and safety aspects of business activities more effectively, while taking into careful consideration accident prevention, risk reduction and the well-being of employees.

Companies can expect considerable benefits from developing a health and safety management system certified to OHSAS 18001. The presence of formal management systems, incorporating a structured approach to hazard identification and risk management, can contribute to the avoidance of a high proportion of accidents and occupational health problems. The development of such a system, can make the management of health and safety more transparent and effective by translating OHSAS 18001 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 (registrars). 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.

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

Modification in OHSAS 18001:2007 when compared to OHSAS 18001:1999 

• The importance of "health" has now been given greater emphasis.
  
• OHSAS 18001 now refers to itself as a standard, not a specification, or document, as in the earlier edition. This reflects the increasing adoption of OHSAS 18001 as the basis for national standards on occupational health and safety management systems.
  
• The "Plan-Do-Check-Act" model diagram is only given in the Introduction, in its entirety, and not also as sectional diagrams at the start of each major clause.
  
• Reference publications in Clause 2 have been limited to purely international documents.
  
• New definitions have been added, and existing definitions revised.
  
• Significant improvement in alignment with ISO 14001:2004 throughout the standard; and improved compatibility with ISO 9001:2000.
  
• A new requirement has been introduced for the consideration of the hierarchy of controls as part of OH&S planning
  
• Management of change is now more explicitly addressed
  
• A new clause on the "Evaluation of compliance" has been introduced, as per ISO 14001:2004
  
• New requirements have been introduced for participation and consultation
  
• New requirements have been introduced for the investigation of incidents