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OHSAS 18001 (Occupational Health and Safety)
Occupational Health & Safety Standard OHSAS 18001
Benefits of a certified OH&S Management System
Procedure to obtain OHSAS 18001 certification
Occupational Health & Safety is usually practiced to prevent injury and ill health of employees, and to comply with relevant legislation and standards. The benefits of improved Health & Safety performance of enterprises are generally accepted and can include cost reduction, improved image (esp. on the international market), and employee motivation.
Additionally, in the modern society also the health promotion of employees in the workplace and a comfortable work environment are aimed for. Therefore, more and more enterprises prepare and implement their own policies and objectives for Occupational Health & Safety.
Management systems for Occupational Health and Safety (OH&S MS) have proved to be an effective tool to organize and focus a company's efforts for minimizing work-related hazards where technical improvements and legal surveillance find their limitations. Like other systematic approaches to management, they have contributed to improved business performance. The virtues of OH&S MS are also underlined and reflected by the development of the ILO "Guidelines on occupational safety and health management systems".
Benefits of a certified OH&S Management System
- Improved business performance as an overall result of:
- Better control of workplace related hazards and improvement of safety performance. Certified companies report fewer accidents, reduced loss time and fewer interruptions of production flow.
- Reduced likelihood of occupational disease and better working conditions. Training and consideration of employee needs create a stable, motivated and highly productive workforce, resulting in cost reduction
- Ensured legal compliance with minimum of administrative effort
- Improved company image which boosts international competitiveness,
- ...backed up by impartial and competent 3rd party audit with the possibility for a fully integrated management system of ISO 9001:2000 (for QMS); ISO 14001 (for EMS) and OHSAS 18001 (for OH&S)
- Possibly: reduced insurance rates and risk of liability / compensation
TÜV Rheinland Japan offers an independent third party assessment service for OH&S management systems, based on the standard OHSAS18001:1999. The assessments may or not result in the certification of interested organizations. The similarity in structure and contents, especially when compared to ISO 14001, facilitates the integration of OH&S issues into any existing management system.
Procedure to obtain OHSAS 18001 certification
The goal of TÜV Rheinland Japan is to provide fair and value-adding auditing services, eventually leading to an effective and (cost-) efficient certified management system.. Our auditors will be closely in touch with you from the early stage on. Once your management system has been prepared and implemented, the road to certification will be as follows.
- Free Introduction Meeting
An initial meeting is offered free of charge where experienced auditors will explain the auditing process and answer your questions. - Estimate Issuance
Together with you, we will determine the scope of your occupational health and safety management system. Considering the locations and facilities, the presumed scale of risks and the effective number of employees, we identify the necessary assessment time. Our fixed price quotation includes the costs incurred over the first three years of your OHSAS 18001 registration. Combined with other management system audits, the audit time can be substantially reduced. - Application/Contracting
Register your intent to certify with TÜV Rheinland Japan by filling out and sending an application form. Based on your application, a formal contract is issued along with all necessary conditions. This will start the whole certification process. - Audit Stage 1
The objective of this stage is to gain an understanding of the management system in the context of the relevant health and safety hazards, and to determine the preparedness of the organization to proceed to Audit Stage 2. Based on review of system documentation and records, it is recommendable but not generally required to perform this work on your premises. - Audit Stage 2 (=Certification Audit)
During the second audit stage, the audit team will confirm that the organization adheres to its policies, objectives and procedures, and that the established management system complies with all OHSAS 18001 standard requirements. Provided successful results, the team will recommend the certification to the certification body. - Issuing of Certification
After an independent review, the certification body of TÜV Rheinland Japan will issue your OHSAS 18001 certificate valid for 3 years. Certificates are available in Japanese, German and English or any other language. Your certification will also be automatically registered on the TUVdotCOM website free of charge, from where you can link to your own website. - Annual surveillance (= Follow-up audit)
Regular surveillance audits maintain the integrity of your management system, confirming continued compliance and reflect the changes to your system. At TÜV Rheinland Japan, follow-up audits are needed only once per year. Required on-site audit time accounts for roughly 1/3 of the initial certification audit time. - Reassessment (= Repeat audit)
Every 3 years, the certificate has to be re-issued in the course of a reassessment. The audit team will confirm the overall continuing conformity of the management system to the requirements of OHSAS 18001 and verify that the management system is properly implemented and maintained. Required on-site audit time accounts for roughly 2/3 of the initial certification audit time.
