OHSAS

OHSAS
Name	OHSAS
Abbreviation	OHSAS
Status	Withdrawn
Domain	Occupational health and safety management
Preceded by	BS 8800
Succeeded by	ISO 45001

OHSAS

OHSAS was a widely used framework for occupational health and safety management systems adopted by organizations worldwide to manage workplace hazards and risks. It provided systematic requirements for establishing policies, procedures, and controls to reduce incidents and improve performance across industries, aligning with practices promoted by International Labour Organization, World Health Organization, United Nations Environment Programme, European Agency for Safety and Health at Work, and national agencies such as Occupational Safety and Health Administration and Health and Safety Executive (United Kingdom). Major multinational corporations including General Electric, Siemens, Shell plc, BP, and Toyota Motor Corporation used it alongside regional regulators like European Commission, Ministry of Manpower (Singapore), and Safe Work Australia.

Overview

OHSAS provided a specification for occupational health and safety management systems that organizations such as Apple Inc., IBM, Samsung Electronics, Siemens, and General Motors adopted to integrate with ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 management systems. It emphasized risk assessment, legal compliance with statutes like Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 and directives from European Agency for Safety and Health at Work, and continual improvement modeled after management approaches promoted by Deming Prize recipients and frameworks cited by World Bank projects and International Finance Corporation guidelines. Professional bodies including British Standards Institution, Certification Bodies Association, American National Standards Institute, and Lloyd's Register provided guidance on interpretation and certification practice.

History and Development

OHSAS originated from collaborative efforts by certification bodies, trade associations, and organizations such as British Standards Institution, Standards Australia, and International Organization for Standardization stakeholders during the 1990s following interest sparked by incidents involving Union Carbide and regulatory shifts after events like the Bhopal disaster. The development drew on earlier guidance from BS 8800, publications by Occupational Safety and Health Administration, reports by European Agency for Safety and Health at Work, and corporate governance reforms after disasters involving Deepwater Horizon and Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster. Adoption accelerated through uptake by firms listed on exchanges such as London Stock Exchange, New York Stock Exchange, and Tokyo Stock Exchange, and through procurement requirements by organizations like World Bank and Asian Development Bank.

Structure and Requirements

The specification used a Plan-Do-Check-Act model similar to ISO 9001 and ISO 14001, and detailed clauses addressing policy, planning (hazard identification and risk assessment), implementation and operation (competence, communication, documentation), checking (monitoring, incident investigation), and management review. It required organizations to demonstrate compliance with national statutes such as Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 and international instruments like ILO Convention C155 and to maintain records comparable to those used by National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. Competence and training references often cited curricula from institutions like Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, and certification schemes administered by Board of Certified Safety Professionals.

Implementation and Certification Process

Implementation typically began with gap analysis against OHSAS clauses, followed by development of an occupational health and safety policy, hazard registers, and operational controls tailored to sectors represented by organizations such as Boeing, ArcelorMittal, ExxonMobil, Dow Chemical Company, and BASF. Certification bodies including BSI Group, SGS S.A., Bureau Veritas, TÜV SÜD, and Det Norske Veritas performed stage 1 and stage 2 audits, issuing certificates and surveillance schedules; auditing practices aligned with accreditation from bodies like UKAS and ANAB. Some entities integrated OHSAS certification into supply chain requirements used by purchasers such as Walmart, Tesco, and IKEA while insurers like AIG and Zurich Insurance Group considered certification in underwriting.

Relationship to ISO 45001 and Legacy

OHSAS served as a precursor to ISO 45001, with transitional arrangements allowing organizations certified to OHSAS to migrate to ISO 45001 within timelines established by International Organization for Standardization and national standards bodies such as Standards Australia and British Standards Institution. The migration involved alignment with the Annex SL structure used by ISO 9001:2015 and ISO 14001:2015, and influenced national occupational health policy discussions in forums including G20 and conferences hosted by World Health Organization. Many multinationals including Siemens, ABB, and Schneider Electric completed migration programs, embedding OHSAS-derived practices in management systems and supplier audits coordinated with ISO 9001 quality systems.

Criticisms and Limitations

Critics pointed to limitations such as prescriptive checklists used by some certification bodies that overlooked organizational culture and behavior factors emphasized by scholars at Oxford University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Stanford University. Other concerns included variable audit quality among certification bodies like SGS S.A. and TÜV Rheinland and the potential for "tick-box" compliance referenced in reports by Transparency International and think tanks such as Chatham House. Industry-specific limitations emerged in high-hazard sectors including nuclear power industry, offshore oil and gas industry, and construction industry where regulators like Nuclear Regulatory Commission and agencies such as Federal Aviation Administration apply prescriptive safety regimes. The transition to ISO 45001 addressed some criticisms by emphasizing leadership and worker participation promoted in literature from International Labour Organization and World Health Organization.

Category:Health and safety standards