Friday, February 27, 2009
How RC 14001 affects you
A successful registration to RC 14001 earns your company a combined RC 14001 and ISO 14001 registration. Only when environmental, health and safety management requirements are met can an RC 14001 certificate be granted. If an audit indicates that a system conforms to the ISO 14001 Standard but not to the requirements for health and safety management or the additional requirements based on Responsible Care concepts, an ISO 14001 certificate can still be issued.
Services we can provide to Support OHSAS 18001 development.
· Complete system design and implementation
· Design and development of an electronic process mapped system
· Objectives and targets setting
· Aspect evaluations
· Risk assessments
· Culture change
· Fire surveys
· Training courses
· ISOBUILDER Support Tool
Saturday, December 13, 2008
Certification that your management system operates in compliance to external standards.
Whilst Health and Safety (H&S) issues for companies have been addressed, due to the legal and regulatory requirements of their respective countries, there has never been a published or recognized standard that utilizes existing published standards.
With the advent of OHSAS 18001 to name one such document, simple and straightforward guidance now exists, drawing on the existing clauses and structures of ISO 9000 and ISO 14001.
In providing a framework (OHSAS 18001) the many issues of H&S can be brought together into a manageable documented system.
With the guidance now in place, the resultant systems, whether integrated or not, ensure that the tools for control exist. This provides peace of mind for senior management along with systems and procedures for staff. This can reduce legal costs and working time lost
Services we can provide to Support OHSAS 18001 development.
- Mentoring
- Complete system design and implementation
- Design and development of an electronic process mapped system
- Objectives and targets setting
- Aspect evaluations
- Risk assessments
- Culture change
- Fire surveys
- Training courses
- ISOBUILDER Support Tool
Steps to the introduction of OHSAS
1. Risk analysis.:
2. Determining relevant responsibilities and authorisations.
3.Determining policy, objectives and required procedures.
4. Defining accident plans.
5. Training employees in the sphere of OHSAS.
. Introducing procedures into the practices of the organisation and performance of the system's processes.
7. Training selected employees such as internal auditors for performing internal inspections.
8. Performing internal audits when verifying the OHSAS system
What are the benefits of OHSAS 18001:1999?
OHSAS 18001 is the sound solution to the ever increasing challenge facing most organisations due to high injury and illness, lost work days, increasing occupational health and safety regulations, large citations/penalties, rising worker’s compensation costs, costly medical claims, worker retention and employee satisfaction.
Real world operating experience shows workers’ compensation claims to be spiralling upward. Traditional occupation health and safety management usually meant reacting to work related incidents rather than planning for the control of work related risks that compose OHSAS 18001:1999. Other costs facing organisations include, but are not limited to, investigation time, wages paid for lost time, clerical time, decreased output of injured worker upon return and the loss of business and goodwill.
that have been the pioneers in attaining OHSAS 18001:1999 already report increased operational benefits, reduction in lost work days, fewer accidents and medical claims, recognition by insurers and regulars and improved worker retention and satisfaction. Employees have responded favourably to registered organisation’s overt commitment to continued occupation health and safety improvements. Enhanced employee awareness and individual commitment to occupational health and safety has served as the basis for positive organisational change
Occupational Health, Welfare and Safety Systems.
OHSAS 18001 has been developed in response to an urgent customer demand for an internationally recognised Occupational Health, Welfare and Safety Management Specification, against which their management systems could be assessed and certified.
OHSAS 18001 is an occupational health, Welfare and safety management system, designed to assist companies to make their companies safer and comply with their legal obligations.
A systems approach to workplace health and safety management contributes to company success and reduced accidents and ill health costs, which are often hidden and underestimated.
OHSAS offers a structured approach to developing, implementing, maintaining and continually improving occupational health, welfare and safety and can be used as a management tool, to eliminate or minimise risk to employees and other interested parties.
OHSAS 18001:2007 what does it mean?
= Occupational, H = Health & S = Safety, A = Assessment S = Series 18001 = The specifications number e.g 18001 2007 = date of publication and revision year e.g. 2007
Audit and Compliance Management Workflow.
- Improve compliance management processes
- Provide executive dashboard visibility on enterprise-wide compliance
- Provide consistent and comparable compliance information across your business
- Configure audit/assessment checklists and protocols
- Administrate checklist question, scoring, and weighting functionality
- Schedule audits/assessments for your entire business, a single business unit or a single site
- Track, monitor and rectify all identified non-compliances
- Notify via email and dashboard all responsibilities in the audit and non-conformance rectification workflow
- Provide data validation, verification and integrity
What are the principles of the OHSAS 18001
- To protect your employees and anyone else who is affected by your operations .
- To keep the Directors and Company out of court.
- To save costs
The OHSAS 18001 specification is based on a structured approach to legal compliance and risk reduction
How do I start to implementation 18001
OHSAS - The Background in Brief
Benefits of Implementing an OH&S management system Include:
- Conformity to a specific OH&S policy
- Implementation, maintenance and continuous improvement of the OH&S management system
- Reduced work-related accidents and illness
- Reduced costs associated with accidents and illness
- Improved performance through policies and procedures
- Compliance to the latest legislation
- Reduced risk of citations/penalties
- Improved company image by demonstrating a commitment to manage and minimize risks to employees and customers
The step to registration iso 18001:2007
- Decision on implementation and registration
- Identify management and personnel for implementation
- Preliminary review to determine existing programs and systems
- Provide training and awareness
- Identifying hazards and applicable laws and regulations
- Established procedures to comply with OHSAS 18001:2007
- Train personnel on procedures
- Implement procedures
- Conduct audit and review
Registration to OHSAS 18001:2007
ISO 9001:2008 Auditor Transition Workshop
You need this course if
- You want to ensure your Quality Management System is compliant with the requirements of ISO 9001:2008
- Effectively audit against the new requirements
- Maintain your IRCA Registration as an Auditor, Principal Auditor and/or Lead Auditor
You will learn
- The philosophy, principles, concepts and requirements of ISO 9001:2008
- The ISO 9001 change process
- The changes that have been made to the Standard
- The potential effects of those changes on the Quality Management System
- The impact the changes have on Audits
You need
- To have some experience/knowledge of ISO 9001:2000
We assess Certification Standards
How robust are your management systems? If you’re unsure, choosing to have an assessor look over your system before the formal visit could save you time in the long run. A ‘gap analysis’ will help identify those areas you need to spend more time on and give you confidence that your systems are ready for formal assessment. The duration of a ‘gap’ is flexible to suit your needs and the status of your systems.
The assessment
Conducted on site at your premises, this visit is undertaken to check that what you say you do meets the requirements of your chosen standard or scheme. Once approved, we will return at defined intervals to make sure your management system continues to meet the requirements of your chosen standard or scheme.
And for those organisations with an existing ISO 9001 system certified with LRQA, we also offer a staged approach to certification to ISO 14001 and OHSAS 18001 with PRISM, unique to LRQA.
- International standards
- Local, national or regional standards and schemes
- Industry specific standards
How can OHSAS 18001 benefit my organization?
Whether you have a contractual requirement to gain certification to OHSAS 18001, or one of the growing numbers of organisations looking to reduce the overall risks to the organisation and demonstrate good governance, there are a number of key benefits with implementing a certified OHS management system. These include:
- a structured approach to hazard identification and risk management which can contribute to the provision of a healthier and safer working environment and the avoidance of a high proportion of accidents and occupational health problems – this should help reduce lost time through employee illness and injury
- the management of health and safety becoming more transparent and effective by translating the outputs of risk assessment, audits, inspections, legal reviews and incident investigations into action plans to minimise the risk of accidents
- improved staff morale, potential reductions in liability claims and lower insurance premiums
- increased credibility from having an OHS management system independently assessed
Thursday, October 16, 2008
What is ISO 18001:2007 OHSAS ?
OHSAS 18001 is an internationally recognised standard and is recognised as the benchmark for Health & Safety Management Systems certification.It promotes a safe and healthy working environment by providing a framework that allows your organisation to consistently identify and control its health and safety risks, reduce the potential for accidents, aid legislative compliance and improve overall performance. The standard has been updated to EN BS OHSAS 18001:2007 to parallel ISO 14001 and ISO 9000 for more consistency and to enable easier integration of environment, quality and health and safety management systems into one.
What are the benefits of Certification to OHSAS 18001 include;
- Potential reduction in the number of accidents
- Proof of legal and regulatory compliance
- Shows your commitment to health and safety
- Better management of health and safety risks
- Potential reduced public liability insurance costs
Much of the improvement is attributed to employee education and awareness of safety issues and understanding.
This increased awareness has been the key factor for OHSAS 18001 organisations saving in legal expenses, tool and equipment damage, product and material damage and production delays and interruptions
What is ''ISOsystemPlus-OHSAS" software.
“ISOsystemPlus-OHSAS" is the reliable, easy-to-use, affordable and efficient software to develop, simplement and maintain the Operational Health and Safety Management System in accordance with requirements of OHSAS 18001:1999 or BS OHSAS 18001:2007 standards.
"ISOsystemPluss-OHSAS" software consists of the following modules (and you can select only those modules which you will really need):
1. "Risks"-Development of Risk Management System (hazards identification, risk evaluation and assessment, identification and implementation of control measures to reduce the risk, verification of the Risk Management System) as required by OHSAS 18001:1999 and/or BS OHSAS 18001:2007 standards.
2 "Documents" - control/management of documents/records of the management system.
3. "Processes"- description of business processes (particularly, risk management process), implementation of "process approach" requirement.
4. "Training" - personnel competence analysis, personnel training and development control system.
5. "Audits"- audits/corrective/preventive actions.
6. "Equipment"- control/management of organization's equipment.
7. "Complaints"- handling with customers' & external stakeholders' complaints/requests.
8. "Non-conformities"- registration/control of non-conformities, comparative analysis of non-conformities, quantitative evaluation of effectiveness of functioning of the Management System, graphical (charts) representation of the results of analysis.
9. "Correspondence"- control over "non-system" organization's documents (incoming/outgoing letters, internal orders, etc.)
Elements of an occupational health and safety management system:
- Occupational Health and Safety Policy
- Planning
- Implementation and Operations
- Checking and Corrective Actions
- Management Review
- Continual Improvement
What are the benefits of an effective occupational health and safety
management system?
Reduction of accidents resulting in death or disabilities.
Reduction of the risk of major accidents occurring.
Reduction of down time.
eduction of lost revenue due to production disruption.
Even though OHSAS 18001 is not recognized as a standard by ISO, it is internationally recognized by more and more international organizations, encompassing a variety of industries requiring their suppliers to be OHSAS certified. Additionally, since OHSAS is similar in structure to ISO 9001 and 14001, it is possible for an organization to integrate OHSAS 18001 with ISO 9001 and / or ISO 14001 allowing a single audit for any combination through TÜV.
It is important to note that conformance / accredited certification will not eliminate all risks and does not release an organization from its obligation to fulfill any additional legal requirements. OHSAS 18001 certificates are valid for three years, with surveillance audits held annually.