Occupational Health and Safety Management Systems (BS OHSAS 18001) from IMS (Northern)

What is an Occupational Health and Safety Management System (SMS)?

A Health and Safety Management System is a formalised approach to health and safety management through use of a framework that aids the identification and control of health and safety risks. Through routine monitoring, an organisation checks compliance against it’s own documented SMS, as well as legislative and regulatory compliance. A well-designed and operated safety management system reduces accident potential and improves the overall management processes of an organisation.

BS OHSAS 18001 is the Occupational Health and Safety Management Systems Specification. Implementation demonstrates an organisation's commitment to protection of health and safety in the workplace. Key principles include:

• leadership and management – clear commitment
• setting objectives – continual improvement
• planning – hazard identification, risk assessment and risk control
• competence – training and awareness
• consultation and communication – all stakeholders
• structure and responsibility – clear lines and definitions
• SMS - audit and review to monitor effectiveness

BS OHSAS 18001 was specifically developed with requirements of the ISO 9001 Quality Management System and ISO 14001 Environmental Management System in mind, allowing for ease of integration of management systems.

Is it Relevant to your Organisation?

No matter the size or function of an organisation, implementing a formalised SMS is a logical approach to the management of health and safety. BS OHSAS 18001 can be adopted by any organisation, reducing work environment health and safety risks, not only of employees but also customers and the general public.

Through the implementation of BS OHSAS 18001, an organisation demonstrates to existing and potential customers that the business is managed responsibly.

Benefits of occupational health and safety management systems include:

• risk reduction
• marketplace advantage
• performance improvement
• reduced costs

 

Health and Safety Training

IMS (Northern) offer a safety systems awareness course aimed at providing and introduction to BS OHSAS 18001 and how to develop your safety system for compliance with the Standards.

For details of other health and safety training courses available from IMS (Northern), please see the training page of our website.

Why use IMS (Northern) Ltd

IMS (Northern) have assisted a number of SMEs to the stage of third party assessment of their Safety Management System. Advice is available on how best to design and implement the SMS for effective control, monitoring and review. IMS (Northern) can perform ‘one off’ or regular auditing of your SMS against the requirements of BS OHSAS 18001. Care is taken to ensure that Safety Management Systems designed by IMS (Northern), are individual and relevant to the clients needs.