|
AFOES CONSULTANTS
|
|
|
|
OHSAS 18001:2007– Improvements and changes from
OHSAS 18001:1999 |
|
|
There have been a number of significant changes to the standard since
the first edition was published in 1999. The changes reflect the widespread
use and experience of the standard in more than 80 countries, and by
approximately 16000 certified organizations (based on the 2005 OHSAS
Standards and Certificates survey figures).
Principal amongst the changes are much greater emphasis on "health" rather than just "safety", and significantly improved alignment to ISO
14001:2004 (to enable organizations to develop "integrated management
systems"). A summary of the key changes is given below. Summary of the key changes between BS OHSAS 18001:2007
and OHSAS 18001:1999 ·
The importance
of "health" has now been given greater emphasis. ·
BS OHSAS 18001
now refers to itself as a standard, not a specification, or document, as in
the earlier edition. This reflects the increasing adoption of OHSAS 18001 as
the basis for national standards on occupational health and safety management
systems. ·
The
"Plan-Do-Check-Act" model diagram is only given in the
Introduction, in its entirety, and not also as sectional diagrams at the
start of each major clause. ·
Reference
publications in Clause 2 have been limited to purely international
documents. ·
New
definitions have been added, and existing definitions revised. ·
Significant
improvement in alignment with ISO 14001:2004 throughout the standard, and
improved compatibility with ISO 9001:2008. ·
The term
"tolerable risk" has been replaced by the term "acceptable
risk" ·
The term
"accident" is now included in the term "incident" ·
The definition
of the term "hazard" no longer refers to "damage to property
or damage to the workplace environment" ·
It is now
considered that such "damage" is not directly related to
occupational health and safety management, which is the purpose of this OHSAS
Standard, and that it is included in the field of asset management. Instead,
the risk of such "damage" having an effect on occupational health
and safety should be identified through the organization's risk assessment
process, and be controlled through the application of appropriate risk
controls. ·
Sub-clauses
4.3.3 and 4.3.4 have been merged, into a single clause 4.3.3 "Objectives
and Programme(s)" in line with ISO 14001:2004. ·
A new
requirement has been introduced for the consideration of the hierarchy of
controls as part of OH&S planning ·
Management of
change is now more explicitly addressed ·
A new clause
on the "Evaluation of compliance" has been introduced, as per ISO
14001:2004 ·
New
requirements have been introduced for participation and consultation ·
New
requirements have been introduced for the investigation of incidents |
“If your organization has already achieved certification to OHSAS 18001:1999,
or is in the final stages of achieving it, a two year transition period
ending 1 July 2009 has been agreed, in order to allow you to make the change
to using the new standard. Please contact local AFOES office to gain better
insight into understanding how the process will affect you.” |
|
|
|
|
|