1              Overview

OHS 18001 is on of the few international standards designed to offer organisations the ability to have their OHS managemenent system assessed and certified against an international framework.

OHS compliance is one of the biggest issues confronting businesses today.  There is a growing awareness and expectation in the community that “everyone deserves a safe job, and come home at night un-hurt”.  Many western countries are now introducing legislation which will make supervisors, managers, directors and board, accountable for unsafe work environments.

OHS standards are designed to provide a framework, within organisations, that will identify hazards, quantify the risks, and put it place control methods to eliminate, reduce or control these risks.

This also needs to be done within a system environment: this means an organisation needs to have sound systems for dealing with issues such as:

  - Training, induction and competence recognition

  - Planning, and keeping on top of legislation,

  - Internal audits

  - Communications

  - Document control

  - Incident reporting etc

Due diligence may also be improved if compliance with a framework like OHS18001 is maintained.  

2              In simple terms

In essence, OHS certification reflects an organisation commitment to providing a safe environment, leadership, systems and discipline which can deliver consistent safe work practices.

If you care about your staff, you are organized and willing to set the example, OHS certification should be a simple, yet important step.  Certification will assist you prove and demonstrate that you have sound systems, and you are keeping them up to date, and in continued compliance.

3              Specific program conditions

3.1         Important program specific issues

Multi-sited clients: if a Client’s F factor is greater than 100, then sampling is not allowed and all sites need to be visited.

3.2         Defining a site

Certification must refer to defined site(s) under clearly identified management. The following factors should be used to determine the scope of the certificate:

• management of the OHS management system subject to certification shall:
  • be responsible for all OHS hazards and associated risks relevant to the OHS management system subject to certification;
  • have authority to determine how OHS policy is implemented in terms of setting its own objectives and targets, and programs to meet them;
  • have authority to allocate appropriate financial and human resources to OHS control and improvement. This may be within budgets or other constraints. Additional resources for OHS improvements may require the authority of more senior management;
• the boundaries to the responsibilities for activities that may give rise to hazards shall be defined;
• interfaces with services or activities that are not completely within the scope of the OHS management system (e.g. occurring on the same site), shall nevertheless be addressed within the OHS management system subject to certification;
• Account shall be taken of the scope of the organization’s OHS legislative requirements (registration requirements, notification requirements, operator’s certificates, licences) when determining the coverage of the certification.

The site is typically defined as:

• all land on which the activities under the control of an organization at a given location are carried out, including any connected or associated storage of raw materials, by-products, intermediate products, end products and waste material, and any equipment or infrastructure involved in the activities, whether  fixed or mobile; or
• where required by law, corresponds to definitions laid down in national or local licensing regimes; or
• Other definitions may also be used subject to justification.

3.3         Preparation for Certification

It is required that prior to certification you have completed:

• a management review
• internal audits

3.4         Notification of Global-Mark

In addition, you must keep Global-Mark informed, if you have been found to have breached regulations or legislations, or have any serious injuries.

3.5         Hazards/Risk identified during our audits/business reviews

If during one of our review on your site(s), we find unsafe practices which put people at risk, we will report these to you immediately and expect you to take action immediately.  If you fail to act, we will stop our review, raise a non-conformance, and if appropriate notify the relevant regulator.

4              What documents/records are needed to understand this program

In order to understand our program, you should also access and be aware of the following documents:

·         G-00: Welcome Pack

·         MSP-00: Introduction to our management systems

·         MSP-01: Nomenclature and definitions

·         MSP-24: Appeals