Hello there, Could anybody please tell me whether there is a piece of legislation that states we should have formalised document review/version control procedures? If there is, could you please let me know what it is? I have been blind-searching for days. Thanks very much, Sheila

Thanks Steve, that's really helpful. Have written a brief doc control procedure, and wondered what legislation needed referencing (it's actually ISO 9001, but we don't follow that anyway). thanks again!

Not every aspect of health & safety or in this particular case, Health & Safety Management System be based on explicit/prescribed legal basis. If you do not have formalised document review/version control of procedures, how do you determine which is the current version etc etc? It is simply good practice, but explicitly required for ISO 9001, ISO 14001 and OHSAS 18001 For OHSAS 18001, clauses 4.4.5 a to g refers to "Control of documents":- It requires organization to establish, implement and maintain procedure(s) to: a) approve documents for adequacy prior to issue b) review and update as necessary and re-approve documents c) ensure that changes and the current revision status of documents are identified d) ensure that relevant versions of applicable documents are available at points of use e) ensure that documents remain legible and readily identifiable f) ensure that documents of external origin determined by the organization to be necessary for the planning and operation of the OH&S management system are identified and their distribution controlled; and g) prevent the unintended use of obsolete documents and apply suitable identification to them if they are retained for any purpose. Regulation 5 of the Management Regulations requires that every employer shall make and give effect to health and safety arrangements as appropriate, having regard to the nature of his activities and the size of his undertaking, for the effective planning, organisation, control, monitoring and review of the preventive and protective measures and where the employer employs five or more employees, he shall record the arrangements . I very much doubt that the term "Control" is used in the same context in regulation 5 as the one for "Document Review/version control of procedures

But MHSWR DOES NOT explicitly require a document review procedure.............

In what way does quoting the Management regs answer the question? At what size of an undertaking, in which nature of activities and when is it appropriate for a business to have formal document control procedures? Far too often, the answer seems to be 'document it formally' when in fact a simple bit of pre-employment screening and appointment of suitably competent employees and managers will be all that is required - and this can be (I would argue it SHOULD be) informal.... Steve

the size of a business has no bearing on the requirement to hold appropraite documentation e.g. try arguing to the tax man, national insurance man or a court ertc. that you are 2 small to have appropriate documents!! Its interesting to note that its only when H&S is quoted that people argue the need or otherwise for documents!!

PL53 - Thank you! I was beginning to think I was the only one who understood this... Bob - you write : "the size of a business has no bearing on the requirement to hold appropraite documentation"... Really??? So why does Reg5 include the expressly specific phrase "... and the size of his undertaking"??? The original question asked 'is there a piece of legislation...'? The answer is 'no'. In many scenarios it may be appropriate to hold such documents as part of a systematic way of managing significant risks - but it is not essential. And it is NOT a legal requirement. Too many QMS evangelists for too long have been saying their way is the only way - and in my opinion far too many people have begun to think they are right.

For the relatively small amount of time and effort it takes to implement a document control system it is certainly worth doing. A piece of paper has never saved a life but using an out of date version of an emergency response plan for example, with incorrect contact numbers or location details etc, could be the cause of a delayed rescue and contribute towards the loss of life.

Oh dear. The Management Regs require the employer's arrangements for managing H&S to be subject to appropriate monitor and review. IF the employer's developed arrangements extend to formal documentation THEN the requirements of MHSWR will apply.