The OHSAS 18001 Occupational Health and Safety Management System standard is an international management system standard that provides a framework for identifying, controlling and mitigating health and safety risks in work environments.
With the implementation of this standard, businesses are informed to third parties that they consider the health and safety of employees as a priority within the enterprise.
BS 8800 is a British standard which is the most established regulation aiming to solve many problems in occupational health and safety. This standard was published by the British Standards Institution in 1996.
However, when this standard became inadequate, OHSAS 1999 Occupational Health and Safety Management System standard was published by the same organization in 18001. Despite its national qualification, the OHSAS 18001 standard has spread quickly and has been used as a reliable guide around the world.
In Turkey, this standard has been published by the Turkish Standards Institute (TSE) under the following headings:
TS 18001 Occupational health and safety management systems - Terms
TS 18002 Occupational health and safety management systems - TS 18001 application guide
The OHSAS 18001 standard has been updated several times in line with evolving technologies, methods, ways of doing business and needs. The most recent update was in 2014. However, at that time, it became an international standard and studies were started by the International Standards Organization (ISO).
These studies were completed in 2018 and the ISO 45001 Occupational Health and Safety Management System standard emerged. This new standard replaces the OHSAS 18001 standard and by the year 2018 has completed the OHSAS 18001 standard.
With the implementation of OHSAS 18001 Occupational Health and Safety Management System and obtaining the OHSAS 18001 certificate, corporate image and reliability is increased among stakeholders, customers, potential customers, governmental organizations and the public. Businesses are adopting international best practices for risk management. Likewise, it contributes to increase the health and welfare of employees, suppliers and the public.
The OHSAS 18001 standard favors the adoption of proactive controls rather than reactive controls. In this way, the responsibility of employers is minimized.
At the same time, this system facilitates the fulfillment of the obligations arising from legal regulations and compliance with legal regulations.
In general, reducing or eliminating hazards in work environments reduces the likelihood of accidents and hazardous situations. The OHSAS 18001 standard allows this systematic study. The more reliable the working environment, the higher the motivation and productivity of the employees.
While designing the OHSAS 18001 standard, it is aimed to determine the duties and responsibilities of employees and supervisors, to protect employees from occupational and occupational diseases, to prevent occupational diseases and occupational accidents, to prevent labor losses caused by this, to provide a more comfortable and reliable working environment and to protect business resources. .
At the same time, it is aimed to comply with the legal regulations and domestic and foreign standards in force, to increase business efficiency, to reduce costs, to provide competitiveness to the enterprise and to ensure that the enterprise is prepared for legal audits.
All these objectives are also valid in the ISO 45001 Occupational Health and Safety Management System standard. Today, companies with a OHSAS 18001 Certificate have been granted a three-year transition period. During this period, OHSAS 18001 Certificate will remain valid. However, upon the expiry of the transition period, the certificate holders will undergo an audit and this time they will receive an ISO 45001 Certificate.
With this new regulation made in the Occupational Health and Safety Management System, the standard is given the common structure of a quality management system. In this way, it can be easily integrated with other ISO management systems such as ISO 9001 Quality Management System and ISO 14001 Environmental Management System.
OHSAS 18001 Occupational Health and Safety Management System is implemented by various sectors. Any business that chooses this app sees its benefits. It does not matter how many employees are in the business. The aim of the system is to focus on the employees and to ensure job security. In this way, the risks and liabilities of the enterprise are reduced.
The OHSAS 18001 Occupational Health and Safety Management System is based on criteria for identifying hazards, assessing risks and identifying applicable controls. Identifying hazards is the process of identifying resources or situations that have the potential to harm employees in terms of injury to employees or deterioration of their health.
Assessing risks is the process of assessing risks arising from danger, such as the possibility of encountering a dangerous event or situation, and the resulting injury or deterioration of health status. Identifying applicable controls is the process of identifying the measures necessary to eliminate risks or mitigate their impact.
In order to establish an effective health and safety system in enterprises, these processes should be handled with great importance. These three aspects provide a solid basis for implementing the OHSAS 18001 system. The system to be installed without these will definitely fail. This system uses a management approach tool called PDCA cycle: plan, implement, control and take action.
Today, all businesses improve their performance in line with their goals and policies and control occupational health and safety risks. In the meantime, legal regulations are introducing increasingly rigorous measures and businesses are inspected. In this respect, it is important for enterprises to develop measures that promote legal regulation principles, policies and occupational health and safety practices.
As such, the OHSAS 18001 Occupational Health and Safety Management System standard provides a structured approach to businesses and constitutes a commitment to occupational health and safety. At the same time, the culture of continuous improvement is established. Thanks to the OHSAS 18001 standard, performance is improved and event levels are reduced. This naturally reduces the liabilities of the enterprise and reduces its costs. Companies with the OHSAS 18001 Certificate are prepared for all kinds of internal and external audits.
First, it is determined whether the organization meets the mandatory requirements of the standard and whether to proceed to the next stage.
It is checked whether necessary procedures and audits have been developed and your institution's readiness for evaluation is reviewed.
The findings that arise in the first two stages are evaluated and after all corrective actions are reviewed, document preparation is started.
To get an appointment, to get more detailed information or to request an evaluation, you can ask us to fill in our form and reach you.
