Guide to Occupational Health and Safety Management Systems

1 Guide to Occupational Health and Safety Management Systems 

The Occupational Health and Safety Advisory Services (OHSAS, 2004) standard BS/ OHSAS 8800 was developed to aid organizations in the development of a framework for managing occupational health and safety. The standard helps organizations  

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British Standards Institution, BS 8800 1996, Guide to occupational health and safety management systems, BSI, London (1996) [Note this standard has been overtaken by OHSAS 18002 2000, Occupational health and safety rrmnagement systems which in turn is likely to become ISO 18002]... 

British Standards Institution BS 8800 1996, Guide to occupational health and safety management systems, BSI, London (1996)... 

British Standards Institution, BS 8800 2004 Guide to Occupational Health and Safety Management Systems, BSI, London (2004)... 

Parallel to the development of ISO 14001 1996 - Environmental Management Systems - several organizations developed guides, draft specifications, and requirements for occupational health and safety management systems (OHSMSs). Most of this development has been done by management system registrars with the expectation that an OHSMS be accepted and issued by a national or internationally accredited standards body, that is, International Organization for Standardization (ISO), British Standards, and so on. 

Risk assessment has been a legal requirement within the EU for some time, but in all its guises it is merely the means to an end. The end is the timely implementation of workable control measures designed to either eliminate or reduce risks to an acceptable or insignificant level. There are many established risk assessment systems. The HSE have developed their Five Steps to Risk Assessment which is largely qualitative in nature. The BSl have included a quantitative risk assessment model in their guide to occupational safety and health management systems. Chapter 2.4 provides an alternative risk assessment model. 

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