Good Afternoon,

I have been asked by the Head of the HR dept to put together a brief synopsis of how implementing OHSAS 18001 would impact on the more senior members of staff in the charity I work for? 

We currently use HSG65 and in my opinion more often than not reach the standards we have set for ourselves. We recently had an external audit completed and I would say we scored an 8 out of 10, with a couple of advisories but nothing too diffult to rectify. However I'm pretty sure the jump to 18001 would require a significant investment on behalf all individuals concerned. 

Is there an easy way to try and estimate how much extra time and commitment would be required to make the necessary changes? Does each department need a total re-vamp of all things h&s? We are a h&s team of 2 with 500+ staff, of which half are based in 10 offices spread nationwide with the other half remotely working. So would the bulk of the work fall on us or require just as much input from mid and senior level managers? What else would we have to factor in?

Whether or not it would be commercially visable is another matter, I've not been asked to consider that but an overall total cost of implementing it would also be good to know..... ballpark? 

Thanks in advance,

We are a sustainable transport charity so we focus on providing cycle routes and working with employers who want to encorage their staff to use alternative means of transport whilst improving their health and activity levels. We also engage with communities with a view to try and make their streets/area a more attractive place for people to live and socialise whilst reducing the impact of traffic in their neighbourhood. 

Generally speaking I would have thought in the grand scheme of things the risk to our staff is low to medium with the only real concerns coming through the occasional lone working situation and our maintenance teams. 

My personal opinion is that we don't need to make the change as what we have in place is working for us with a few small exceptions. As Hsquared14 has said, where is the improvement if we end up working for the system instead of the other way around and as a result drowning in unnecessary paperwork. Would still welcome other people's thoughts though on possible changes required if we were to proceed...

Clane,

As this is your opportunity to shine and you already have an HSG 65 modelled management system in place, I would recommend that you undertake a Management Status Review.  Avoid Consultants as you end up with their management system and not one which necessarily is compatible with you own organisation's systems and you personally don’t get the credit! 

After you have redrafted your management system, any good 18001 Certification Body should help you fill the gaps when they come around to sell you the Certification and during their initial audit.

To get you started, have a look at the following (free) IOSH document:  file:///C:/Users/alsmith/Downloads/Systems%20in%20focus%20(2).pdf​​​​​​​

If you want any further advice, PM and if it is the charity I think it is, I will gladly help you.  My employer also has a ‘Give a day of your time’ in which I could possibly help your organisation further.

The difference is that HSG 65 is just what the HSE thinks an H&S management system should be like: it is purely advisory. OSHA 18001 (and ISO 450001) is designed to be auditable: someone can come along and compare what you do, to the standard and say yes you are complying or no you are not. They can then give you a nice certificate and an invoice.

If you think it is worth investing time and effort to bring your systems in line with an accredited standard because you think it will make getting work easier, great. But just going for it because you can, you might end up creating a rod for your own back in the future.

By the way what did the external auditors use as a benchmark?

I am always wary of auditors that turn up to look at an organisation’s H&S compliance without explaining what they are auditing against if it is not a proper standard.