According to OHSAS 18001 clause 3.9, an "incident" can be a work-related event in which ill health (regardless of severity) occurred, or could have occurred.

Isn't that a bit too tough on employers? With that definition, even a running nose (if work related) would have to be recorded as an "incident". Can "(regardless of severity)" be omitted from the "incident" definition in the OHSAS 18001 introduction to employees in order to avoid misuse of OH&S regulations?

If the running nose is caused by work, why wouldn't you regard it as an incident? I would.

One of the issues with many health conditions is that they can start out small (eg runny nose and eyes) and if not investigated and acted on become much more serious (full-blown occupational asthma).

Is it Friday yet?

Allergic rhinitis is common, and there many allergens which could be present in some workplaces. Wood dust and flour for examples. Others may be less obvious, but many jobs can involve direct or indirect contact with cats and dogs, which are the most common causes of what can be a debilitating condition. Do not belittle or humorously? dismiss a 'runny nose' as insignificant if it persists or if several employees have it...

Thanks to everybody for the responses. - To Watcher: You ask a very good question. No, I can't explain that, because my question "Isn't that a bit too tough on employers?" is the question of an employer who simply removed "(regardless of severity)" from the "incident" definition in references to OHSAS 18001:2007 in the OH&S management handbook of that employer. The OH&S manager simply wanted not do deal with "minor diseases". After a complaint about that omission by an employee of that company (who surprisingly read OHSAS 18002 after OHSAS 18001 was presented at a "all hands meeting") to the accreditation authority (the CAB didn't respond initially), the CAB had to ask the employer to put the "(regardless of severity)" back into the definition.

Seemingly you need unusually curious employees in order do secure compliance with work safety standards ;-)

Sadly, there will be no "(regardless of severity)" in ISO 45001. So we are back again to the old times where "minor diseases" could be prevented from being registered and evaluated. At least the above mentioned OH&S manager will be happy again. Also here ISO 45001 falls behind what was an improvement from OHSAS 18001:1999 to OHSAS 18001:2007. That improvement is gone.

Unfortunately the alteration of the OHSAS definition in the system now makes the system Non Compliant. The purpose of the clauses are to establish that no ill health is resulting from the work activities. To eliminate the "minor" is to ignore a potential source of evidence. No it is not tough on employers it is about a true social responsibility of employers for the sources of potential harm in the work they undertake.

The wording of the standard remains regardless of any attempt by an employer to subvert it. OHSAS is not a set of regulations and so I fail to understand what you are saying about abuse. The employee should be reporting events that may be work related and the employer should be investigating as required by the standards.

Reading this thread makes me glad I do not have to work with 18001...an incident could be just about anything in the workplace. The real question is whether you would investigate it or record it.

I'm sure a better example of a spurious 'incident' could have been provided, however if I came across a 'runny nose' in the workplace I would offer a Kleenex - strange perhaps, but there ya go.

Not really. But even if that would be true: If the employees know that there is a reliable and transparent evaluation procedure (e.g. agreed between employer and works council) *after* incidents are reported, cases of frivolous incident reports will be quite rare. So don't be afraid to work with OHSAS 18001 :-)

Chris42 described, how it works. Deal with incidents pragmatically. Then minor incidents easily can be evaluated and filed. - And your PR department will be happy to tell the the public, that the company even - just in case - cares about minor incidents.