BS OHSAS 18001:2007 - a standard for occupational health and safety
For a number of years, there has been demand for a certification scheme for occupational health and safety, and this intensified with the publication of BS 8800 in 1997 – now BS 8800:2004. However, while BS 8800 offers guidance on implementing an OH&S Management System, it is not and never was intended for certification purposes. Certification offers independent verification that an organisation has taken all reasonable measures to minimise risks and prevent accidents.
This situation prompted many certification bodies to develop their own schemes, based on BS 8800. The inevitable irregularities between the schemes made this way forward undesirable. In response, a committee was formed in November 1998 with the remit of creating a single standard. This committee consisted of the British Standards Institution, the major UK certification bodies and other national standards organisations known to be active in health and safety.
The Occupational Health and Safety Assessment Series unifies existing schemes and creates an auditable standard. Developed to be compatible with BS EN ISO 9001:2000 and BS EN ISO 14001:2004 it is the current leading specification worldwide in this area.
The new standard is broken into two sections:
BS OHSAS 18001:2007 is the specification against which certification is awarded.
OHSAS 18002:2000 provides guidance on implementing an Occupational Health and Safety Management System and corresponds directly to the specification. While this standard is aligned on a clause by clause basis against OHSAS 18001:1999, it does still contain valuable advice on what you need to do to achieve compliance.
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Requirements of the Standard
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