Occupational health OHSAS 18001
OHSAS 18001 is the international standard for an OHS management system. The OHS (Occupational health and safety) management system is used to develop an appropriate OHS policy for an organization and to ensure its implementation.
The OHSAS 18001 certification scheme contains the ‘ground rules’ for certifying occupational health and safety management systems. All of the certification bodies (CBs) associated with SCCM use this scheme when performing audits. The certification system contains:
- An interpretation of the OHSAS 18001 standard.
- Guidelines for organizing the CB.
- Agreements about the procedures used by the CB.
In part 1, the interpretation of the standard, various elements of the OHSAS 18001 standard are explained in detail:
- These explanations are essential for developing a high-quality occupational health and safety management system.
- These explanations involve elements of the standard which may be confusing to interpret.
- The interpretations are binding for the CB in performing its audits.
The certification scheme is updated regularly by the Central Committee of Experts, based on current developments. The changes are discussed with the certification bodies to ensure they are practicable. A summary of changes in the certification scheme and transitional period for implementation is available on the Dutch website.
The Dutch version of the certification scheme is leading.
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