I am interested to find out what the real benefits of OHSAS18001 certification are. There are many benefits stated, as there are for all H&S Management Systems, however I am looking for hard facts relating to new-business benefits and the possible reductions in cost of winning that business. Are there any named companies, governments etc who expect (or demand) OHSAS18001 of their suppliers? Are there any case studies enumerating the business benefits provided by OHSAS18001 or providing firm evidence of business wins? Are there any examples of companies who have benefited from OHSAS18001 in their trading relationships particularly where that benefit can be set against the cost of implementation? This is aside to the obvious benefits to H&S that accrue from the implementation any occupational health and safety management system. Your experiences would be most welcome.

Woolford, I suspect you are asking the $64,000 dollar question. I will watch this space for the answer... Ray

I couldn't put an exact figure on it, but in my experience in a high hazard industry with high profile clients who demand excellence in safety, 18001 is a good foundation to achieving those requirements. Contractors with the certification are definitely more attractive than those without. Many of our clients at my previous company used the 18001 system as an audit guideline as part of the selection process.

As Chris H says above, high risk companies will often demand their suppliers are 18001-certified. 18001 is not just a good indicator on site safety, it's also a quality assurance. An example, the major motor manufacturers in UK like Jaguar, Nissan, Toyota, running production lines day in day out. A car assembly line will stop (at the cost of say 5 million pounds a day!) if a significant part or product suddenly becomes unavailable e.g the paint supplier's factory suffers a severe fire. So the motor manufacturer will only buy their paint from suppliers who are 18001-certifed as the risk of a major fire at their plant is presumably low because of the safety/quality systems in place. JohnW

Thanks for your responses they are helpful in gathering an overall picture It seems however, that although some companies ask about OHSAS18001 certification it is unlikely to be a show-stopper if you haven't got it. Whether there are cost savings if you have it does not seem to be quantifiable. BSI don't seem to have any quantified benefits (I have not found any yet) and I haven't found any case studies beyond general case studies relating to savings from improvement in incident losses. Hence my interest in business trading benefits.