Posted By Arran Linton - Smith BS 8800:1996 has two management models, the first is the modified HSG 65 model and the second is the ISO 14001 model. Which one do you want?

Posted By Jay Joshi BS 8800 has not been replaced by OHSAS 18001. It is very much current and will remain so until it is reviewed. The background to OHSAS 18001 & 2 is that certification bodies had reported that there has been urgent customer demand for a recognisable occupational health and safety management system specification, for the assessment and certification of OH&S management systems. However, there has been insufficient agreement within the formal standards development processes for the development of an UK national standard, a European standard, or an international standard, in this area (although a national agreement was eventually reached over the development of BS 8800: 1996 Guide to occupational health and safety management systems). This had led to the development of a number of OH&S management systems specifications, both by national standards bodies and by independent groups. National standardisation bodies, certification bodies, and specialist consultancies have since decided to try and meet this increasingly urgent customer demand, and to try and harmonise the work in this field. This has resulted in the development of Occupational Health and Safety Assessment Series (OHSAS) Specification, OHSAS 18001. The Standard for Certification of Occupational Health and Safety (OH&S) Management Systems has been developed by an association of national standards bodies, certification bodies and specialist consultancies. This standard "Occupational Health and Safety Assessment Series (OHSAS) Specification, OHSAS 18001" was officially released in April 99. The OHSAS 18001 standard includes the principles laid down in BS 8800 (guideline issued by British Standards Institution in 1996) In February 2000, OHSAS 18002 – "Occupational health and safety management systems: Guidelines for the implementation of OHSAS 18001" was officially published. It is structured to give the specific requirements from OHSAS 18001 followed by relevant guidance. The clause numbering of OHSAS 18002 is aligned with that of OHSAS 18001. This Occupational Health and Safety Assessment Series (OHSAS) guideline provides generic advice on the application of OHSAS 18001. It seeks to explain the underlying principles of OHSAS 18001. It describes the intent, typical inputs, processes and typical outputs, against each requirement of OHSAS 18001. This is to aid understanding and implementation of OHSAS 18001. There have been proposals before the International Standards Organisation (ISO) for an international OHSMS standard in 1996 and 2000, but in both cases it was voted down by a slight majority of the member states. ILO is the international organisation . (In this context, many reputable companies even refer to OHSAS 18001 as ISO 18001 etc in job advertisements for senior positions –this is incorrect) Currently, the only “international guidelines” are the final ILO guidelines for OHSMS, issued in June 2001, but these cannot be certificated. At present there are two (2) accreditation bodies (i.e. RvA and Korean Accreditation Body) working towards having an accredited OHSMS scheme (based on OHSAS 18001) ready by the second half of 2001. To respond to your original question, and clarified by Alan, BS 8800 actually allows user to adopt either the HS(G)65 or the ISO 14001 routes !! So, in that context, for all practical purposes, if you are having an OHSMS that meets HS(G)65 criteria,, you will meet the BS 8800 criteria !!

Posted By Alan Kirkwood Are there currently any organisations that will certify companies as having achieved the standards laid out in OHSAS 18001?

Posted By mike taylor according to ISO themselves you are never iso accredited or iso certified, iso do not issue accreditation or certification. however independant qualified auditors may deem your company to of reached an iso standard. check out at www.ios.org and pick up the link for basics. mike

Posted By Jay Joshi UKAS does not provide accreditaion to certificating bodies for OHSAS 18001. I understand that UKAS's overall accreditation is on the basis of an MOU with the Department of Trade & Industry--and the MOU does not include accrediation for OHSAS i.e. accrediting certificating bodies for Occupational Health & Safety Management Systems ! Hence the move by major players to seek accreditaion from Korean & Dutch accrediation bodies. However, as stated by Arran, there are specific criteria from other bodies as far as competencies of Auditors etc are concerned

Posted By Andrew Taylor The Plan Do Check Act Cycle, (process Model) is common to HS(G)65, I4001, and 18001. The New ISO9000 quality standard is also moving in this direction. Presumably in Ten years or so when these seperate systems have been bedded in then a new standard for integrated management will be put forward. Still certain questions which are fundamental to safety will remain to be answered. ie whether Continual improvement is acceptable or whether a policy of zero accidents is achievable or desirable. Regards Andrew

Posted By Robert K Lewis The concern with whether zero accidents is achievable is a bit of a red herring to me-we have to work on the basis of an expectation to achieve otherwise we can never get close to achieving. Dupont produced a culture map of dependent/independent/interdependent cultures (contact me for a copy). The aim ultimately is to achieve a culture in which people support and question each other. The expectation is to achieve not just to target Bob