OHSAS 18001

Occupational Health and safety assessment Specifi­cation (OHSAS) is an international standard giving requirements related to health and safety management systems in order to enable an organization to control its risks and improve its performance.
Benefits of OHSAS:
Improves your safety culture
Improved efficiency and consequently reduce acci­dent and production time loss
Increased control of hazards and the reduction of risks through devolved responsibility
Demonstrates legal compliance
Increases your reputation for safety and occupational health
Reduces insurance premiums
Is an integral part of a sustainability strategy
Demonstrates your commitment to the protection of staff, property and plant
Encourages more effective internal and external communication
Is a “Business to business contract winner.”
Elements of the OHSAS 18001 standard are:
■ OH&S Policy ■ Planning for Hazard identifica­tion, Risk Assessment and Risk Control ■ Legal and Other Requirements ■ Objectives ■ OH&S Manage­ment Programs ■ Structure and Responsibilities ■ Training, Awareness and Competence ■ Consultation and Communication ■ Documentation ■ Document and Data Control ■ Operational control ■ Emergency Preparedness and Response ■ Performance Measure­ment and Monitoring ■ Accidents, Incidents, Nonconfor­mances and Corrective and Preventive Ac­tion ■ Records and Records Management ■ Audit ■ Management Review.
OHSAS is a systematic practice of identifying poten­tial for loss, assessing the risks, making decisions on appropriate controls, implementing and then monitor­ing the system to control the loss.
How to implement OHSAS
Identify all loss exposure
Evaluate the risk
Develop a plan
Implement the plan
Monitor the system
Identification of loss exposures is helped by
Review of past incidents, including accident investiga­tion work
Brain storming and Task Observation
Checklists
List of hazardous material and processes
Three variables used in the risk evaluation:
Severity - if the exposure were to result in a loss, how severe is the loss likely to be?
Frequency - how often are people, equipment, materi­als, or the environment exposed to the risk?
Probability - considering all pertinent factors, how likely is the loss to occur?
To develop a plan, we have four alternatives:
Termination - Termination of the risk is generally the preferred option
Treatment - Many hazards can be treated to reduce the inherent risk.
Toleration - Either we treat risk in order that it may be brought down to a tolerable level; or the risk does not warrant any treatment at all.
Transfer - Even with the best means of treatment, we may find that we are still liable for consider­able financial risk. Insurance is one way to transfer some risk, but in so doing we do not transfer all fi­nancial and legal liabilities and accountabilities. An­other option is to transfer risk through contracted agreements.
The implementation of the plan involves key aspects of performance management such as goals - objec­tives - responsibilities - accountability - follow-through. Implementation is facilitated by applying proven management principles and tech­niques for success.
Monitoring the plan needs us to measure, evaluate, commend and correct individual, group and organ­izational performance.
- From “An Introduction to OHSAS 18001” by Jentek and http://www.nimbuscertifications.com/services.html?gclid=CJCq27Oi1pgCFQLMbgodXV7odQ