OHSAS 18001 and OHSAS 18002 - The 18000 Series

The OHSAS 18000 series is the emerging standard set occupational safety and health. It consists of two publications, as follows:

OHSAS 18001
This is the "Occupational Health and Safety Management Systems Specification". It was developed in response to urgent demand for a recognized standard against which occupational safety management systems can be assessed. It is compatible with ISO 9001 and ISO 14001.

It covers issues such as planning for hazard identification, risk assessment/control, OHS management, awareness and competence, training, communication, emergency preparedness and response, performance measuring and improvement

OHSAS 18002
This provides guidelines for the implementation of OHSAS 18001. It explains the requirements of this and how to work towards implementation/registration.

Benefits
The need for internationally recognized standards for occupational health and safety management has long been apparent. These two standards have emerged to fill this void, and are being adopted across the globe.

Implementation of the standards is intended to provide multiple benefits. These include:
- Reduced risk (via improved safety management of health and safety risks)
- Competitive advantage (via demonstration of commitment to health and safety)
- Improved performance (via improved operational efficiency through accident management reduction and reduced downtime)
- Reduced costs (via reduced insurance premiums and compensation/penalties for breached legislation/etc)

Where to Find The Standards
The standards are available for download in PDF format. The two major sources are:

As Stand Alone Documents:
These can be obtained from the OHSAS page at Standards Direct: OHSAS 18001 & 18002

Within the OHSAS Implementation Kit:
This includes the standards, plus support resources (see right hand panel), and can be found at: The OHSAS 18000 Toolkit