HEALTH & SAFETY MANAGEMENT SYSTEM

Health and Safety Management System



Health and Safety Management System

Introduction

In the past, individuals working in the workplace, or a factory, or any other on-site facility were exposed to environmental hazards. With the advent of technology, organisations (schools) have realised the importance of providing a safe workplace setting to their employees. On the federal level, the governments have enticed the organisations (schools) to enforce and comply with the prescribed standards so that employees are able to work in safe environments without fear of hazards or any health-related mishaps.

Two of most important standards, which are being commonly used in organisations (schools), are ISO 14001 and OHSAS 18001 Standards. In this paper, implementation of an integrated health and risk management procedure is presented. This procedure is meant to streamline the existing practices with regards to the compliance of two standards mentioned above. For this purpose, I have selected a school, ABC Folks School, which is located in South London. There are approximately 500 individuals employed at this school.

Discussion

The employees working at ABC Folks School are dissatisfied with the internal environment of the organisation. They are concerned about their exposure to chemicals and environmental hazards, while working in a Chemistry Lab. They hold the opinion that the workers are forced to work in an unsuitable environment, where practices regarding health and safety of employees are not followed. The situation has continued for the last eight months. Three of the senior lab employees have resigned, while citing poor working conditions in the organisation as the foremost reason for their penultimate decision.

It is the high time for ABC Folks School to look into this matter. Keeping in view the grave situation, the administration of ABC Folks School has decided to revise its policy in accordance with the provisions of ISO 14001 and OHSAS 18001 standards so as to win the confidence of the employees.

ISO 14001 Standards

ISO 14001 - is a universally accepted international standard that defines a mechanism for implementation of effective environmental management system (EMS). This standard is intended to provide a delicate balance between maintaining profitability and reducing the impact on the environment.

OHSAS 18001 Standards

OHSMS and OHSAS 18001 (BS 8800) do not have an accreditation scheme equivalent to ISO 14000 or ISO 9000. At present, there is no uniform framework for the accreditation of certifiers or auditors, although there are schemes to certify companies for certification and accreditation some bodies (examples, because the American scheme ANSI Z-10, IRAM 3800).

Because of this lack, the certification today has taken the lead in developing their own structures and guidelines for the interpretation and application. It helps to evaluate and certify their management systems for health and safety at work. The basic concept of this specification OHSAS 18001 is based on continuous improvement of risk management for health and safety at work, even if it does not establish requirements for performance level

Procedure

The adoption of such a system is the expression of a comprehensive approach to prevention and management of occupational ...