You can review your policies and procedures documentation as and whenever you want. I always used to do mine every two years but 3 years is acceptable expect you need to make sure that they are still relevant. Where a lot of organisations fall down is that they allow things to “drift” and you realise that the policies and procedures etc do not refer to what is happening now but what might have been going on years ago. For example you might say that a particular role holder must sign of a particular risk assessment. If their role has gone; what do you do?

isn't that the thrust of the HSE statement on review - after x years or where there is a significant change?

Removing a relevant post holder is to my mind a significant change after all it's only when they've gone do people realise what it was they were employed to do.

I am not sure if ISO standards set a review date. When I worked to ISO 9001 we set 2 years and the auditors were happy with this as long as we stuck to it.

Yes you would think that a wholesale reorganisation would lead to a complete review of all documentation etc. But what happens if the person responsible for reviewing the documentation is the one who has been got rid of? What if nobody cares enough to review the documentation until the review date comes and goes and then it becomes a priority?

It only becomes a priority when someone external is scrutinising - so if you are not CHAS, Constructionline etc. or certified as meeting the requirements of ISO 9001, ISO 14001, ISO 45001 etc.

Originally Posted by: craigroberts76

Any chas or constructionline (in our sector) application will be rejected if policies are more than 12 months old.  ISO I believe requires 12 monthly too

And thats the problem with all of these accrediations...its for their benefit to generate cash, not for the applicants benefit...