OHSAS 18001, “Occupational health and safety management systems – Requirements” is a bit of an odd duck in the landscape of ISO this and ISO that. Yet it is the only standard that serves the purpose of providing a company with a way to tell the world it has a safe, standardized, workplace without spocking customers’ eyebrows.

Enter ISO/PC 283 “Occupational health and safety management systems – Requirements”.  It comes on the heels of some widely publicized workplace safety incidents, including the recent Bangladeshi tragedy where nearly 1,200 workers were killed.

In the words of S. Joe Bhatia, American National Standards Institute (ANSI) president and CEO, “This proposed occupational health and safety standard represents one of the most significant consensus standards activities in the last 50 years. It has the potential to significantly and positively impact occupational health and safety management on a global level.”

What it Means for OHSAS 18001

What this means for the existing OHSAS 18001, and the country specific ANSI Z10-2012 “American National Standard for Occupational Health and Safety Management Systems”, is that when the ISO version is released, a company will need to convert to it. Registrars will have an upgrade path in place by then, so the transition should be an easy one. ANSI Z10 will actually remain, but the contents will be replaced with the ISO OHSAS.

Still quite early and, beyond the basic structure, the real requirements are as yet to be determined. The next meeting of the committee responsible is on the 21st of October; we’ll know more after that.

So, perhaps in 2016 or 2017, OHSAS 18001 will be renewed as ISO 18001 (or some other number), but in the meantime  OHSAS 18001 or even ANSI Z10 is the remaining option.

Thank you for reading, and I’ll keep you posted – until then… go forth, and calibrate thyself.

Sal