Posted By Nigel Hammond I'm rather taken with OHSAS 18001, the standard for health & safety management systems. I went on the 1-day IOSH course on Management Systems, have just read the article in the Nov S&H Practitioner and the previous threads in this forum. However, as much as I like the standard, I'm still not sure how to sell it to our board of directors. I work for a charity which runs homes for people with learning disabilities. Would it look good to our clients? (mostly local authorities) and would it help the business in any other way? - after all that is what directors are generally interested in. Any ideas?

Posted By peter gotch Nigel, As a supplier of consultancy services to 100s of clients in both private and public sectors, I have seen zero indication that they are likely to demand 18001 accreditation. Almost as few starting to push the 14001 line. They routinely accept our position that we base our HSW management systems on the principles in HSG65. I think that many organisations may ally their HSW / environmental / etc etc systems to 9004 which allows to you to effectively pick from a menu with view to continuous improvement. Regards, Peter

Posted By Nigel Hammond Thanks Andy, Peter and Annetta for your helpful replies. The bullet points you gave me Annetta will be particularly useful for my presentation to our directors next week! I was disappointed that there were only 3 replies for such a major topic. It makes me wonder if many health & safety professionals apply a piecemeal approach to health & safety rather than using Corporate management systems approach?? or is lack of interest in OHSAS 18001 bacause people feel that HSG65 provides a system that works and truly results in continuous improvement?

Posted By Jay Joshi There appears to be a lot of confusion regarding implementation/advantages of Occupational Health & Safety Management Systems (OHSMS)due to the multitude of "routes" available. This has arisen because unlike its counterparts in Quality & Environment, there has not been a consensus in the Standards compilation process at national level to have a CERTIFICATED OHSMS. This has resulted in the publication of OHSAS 18001 & OHSAS 18002. Due to the limitation that OHSAS is not a British or an International (ISO) standard, and that it is currently not within the scope of UKAS to accredit certification bodies to award OHSAS 18001, it perhaps lacks the level of credibility that Quality & Environmental ones have. I understand that BS 5750 & BS 7750 were heavily promoted by DTI and all stakeholders as there were "certificated" British Standards that soon became International i.e. ISO certificated standards. This is not the case with OHSAS 18001. OHSAS 18001 can be used to advantage inso much as it can be used to demonsrate the implementation of an OHSMS. What cannot do is the "level of acheivement" within the OHSMS that some of its competitors such as various "star" rating systems and others such as ISRS can do. OHSAS 18001 can reassure management by external & independent audit the compliance to the "standard", but as it has not been tested in courts to demonstrate "due diligence", the take up perhas is not great! A likely driver can be the implementation in law of proposals for Corporate Manslaughter from the Home Office--that will surely concentrate the minds at the top level and a denmand for independent external audits may increase. Lastly, the confusion comes from questions that a board will require satisfactory responses to--such as :- Is OHSAS 18001 a British or an International Standard? The answer is NO-- Unless the promoter is clued in to the background that led to compilation of OHSAS 18001, can respond positively, and can determine whether an OHSAS 18001 certification body is up-to scratch, such as its Auditor competency criteria, auditors registered with a recognised body such as IRCA, it is a very complicated issue. Last, but not least, there is a cost associated with external audits so the drivers can be :- For organisations without a robust OHSMS, a gap analysis will indicate what needs to be done and can be used to advantage to build one. For organisations with robust OHSMS, it is re-assurance. In any case, external audits are a snapshots very much like MOT's. There has to be a robust internal audit team to maintain the OHSMS--a significant resource issue that should be taken into consideration. Having said this, I suspect that many of my collegues who are in-company advisors will be able to undertake such a task themselves--and this leads to the question that why employers do not implement their own "appointed persons" ( to assist in implementaing statutory requirements......" Regulation 7-MHSWR) advice and need external audits to convince them to comply with Regulation 5 of the Management of Health & Safety at Work Regulations 1999! The excellent IOSH guidance on OHSMS referred to in other threads will go a long way in addressing all of these issues.

Posted By Nigel Hammond Thanks for the responses. The information you gave me was very useful in my directors talk. They seem almost convinced. They have left me with two questions. 1. What other organisations have achieved OHSAS 18001? 2. What do HSE or EHOs think about OHSAS 18001 - would it help in a prosecution defence or would they dismiss it because it is not called 'HSG65'!? Any responses greatfully received.

Posted By Arran Linton - Smith Nigel Hammond, In answer to your question, if an organisation has an effective management system based upon OHSAS 18001:1999, then it is most likely that it will be complying with Regulation 5 of The Management of Health & Safety at Work Regulations 1999 and the specific advice laid out in the Approved Code of Practice. The same statement can also apply to HSG 65. The organisation is likely to be judged against Regulation 5 and the ACOP. Not HSG 65.

Posted By Paul Adams Hedley Purvis Ltd of Morpeth have just been recommended for certification.