ChW,


As an 18001 certification auditor hopefully the information below my help. The biggest areas that I find companies fall down on are the following:

- The auditor is looking for how the company manages risk as a whole and not just the risk assessments (which do form a part of this) and how the organisation has determined and prioritised the risk areas (Clause 4.3.1)

- that the emergency arrangements/procedures you have in place have been tested and the ones that have been tested are consumerate to the risk (not just fire drills and first aid) so going on that your company is involved in logistics, traffic accident would be a realistic emergency scenario to test/practice (obviously without putting anyone in danger!) (Clause 4.4.7)

- evaluation of compliance is by far the most misunderstood clause that I have come across - it was introduced in the 2007 standard. This is going beyond the requirements of identifying legal and other requirements (which is required earlier on inthe standard) and how you evaluate that the organisation is complying with the requirements (Clause 4.5.2)

- if your company operates a ISO certified/based Quality Management System then a number of the requirements in 18001 derive from 9000 series (such as document control, control of records, audit and management review)

- be aware that health is now more heavily focused on within the 2007 standard and not just safety

Finally, it is worth getting a copy of 18002 the guidelines document (if you don't already have it) as this is a really good source of guidance on what the standard is looking for.

Hope the above helps, if you want any further assistance please do not hesitate to contact me.

Best Regards - Donna

ChW

I fully agree with donnaf. As someone who nowadays tends to do the gap analysis and assist in preparation of the system I find many companies embark on this course without realising the intense effort needed. If you are on a tight timescale, ie less than 18 months, then you really do need some experienced assistance.

Bob