Health and Safety Management Notes

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Health & Safety Management Lecturing Resource

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Quarrying Related Degree Courses

LECTURE NOTES:

HEALTH & SAFETY MANAGEMENT

SYSTEMS

Objectives of this Section

• To define the concepts and components of a health and safety management system;

•

To outline recent developments in health and safety management including the development of OHSAS18001 and accreditation.



1.0 Introduction

Many of the industrially developed countries of the world have seen injury and illness rates

decline over the last 50 years. However these rates have generally reached a plateau over

the last decade. This fact, coupled with the realisation of the role of management andorganisational (latent) failures in accident causation, has lead to new approaches in

managing health and safety, most notably the use of a systems approach. The importance

of managing health and safety has been highlighted in recent official reports of major

accidents and has received increasing emphasis in OH&S legislation.

A Health and Safety Management System can be defined as ‘the means by which an

organisation controls risk through the management process’.

The BSI define a OH&S management system as ‘part of the overall management system that facilities the management of the OH&S risksassociated with the business of the organisation. This includes theorganisational structure, planning activities, responsibilities, practices, procedures, processes and resources for developing and achieving,reviewing and maintaining the organisation’s OH&S policy.

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2.0 What is meant by a systems approach?

A systems approach to management is based on system theories developed primarily in the

natural and social sciences. Four elements common to general systems theories are input,

process, output and feedback. Systems are also classed as being either open or closed.

• An open system is one where there are identifiable pathways where the system interacts

with the external environment and is subject to external influences. In health and safety

these influences include legislation, public opinion and the economy.

• Closed systems do not interact with the environment and so their ability to adapt or

respond to changing internal conditions is limited.

A management system is an open system, and based on the following approach:

INPUT PROCESS OUTPUT

FEEDBACK

Organisation

External Environment

In the past organisations put a great deal of emphasis on safety programmes. These are

different from health and safety management systems in a number of ways:

• Programmes are focused on compliance with the standards/regulations within and do not

have the strong or any feedback mechanisms where the contents are adjusted or

modified to accommodate changing circumstances. Systems have this facility.

• The performance of a programme is based on compliance with the system and with

trailing (or reactive) indicators such as the number of accidents, injuries etc. In a systems

approach performance is also measured from the input and process components of the

system.

In 1991 the HSE published a document entitled “Successful Health and Safety

Management” which was designed to be a practical guide for businesses who wanted to

improve their health and safety performance. Their approach to health and safety

management has six elements:

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• Policy

• Organising

• Planning and implementing

• Measuring performance

• Reviewing Performance

• Auditing

A summary of this guidance is given in the next section.

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3.0 Key elements of a H&S Management System

The key elements of successful health and safety management are set out in this summary.

This is taken from the HSE Guidance document HSG651. Diagram I outlines the relationship

between them.

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Policy development

Organisational

development

Developing

techniques of

planning,

measuring and

reviewing

Policy

Effective health and safety policies set a clear direction for the organisation to follow.

They contribute to all aspects of business performance as part of a demonstrable

commitment to continuous improvement. Responsibilities to people and the environment aremet in ways which fulfil the spirit and letter of the law. Stakeholders' expectations in the

activity (whether they are shareholders, employees, or their representatives, customers or

society at large) are satisfied. There are cost-effective approaches to preserving and

developing physical and human resources, which reduce financial losses and liabilities.

1 HSE (1997) Successful Health and Safety Management, HSG65, HSE Books.

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Organising

An effective management structure and arrangements are in place for delivering the

policy.

All staff are motivated and empowered to work safely and to protect their long-term health,

not simply to avoid accidents. The arrangements are:

• underpinned by effective staff involvement and participation; and

• sustained by effective communication and the promotion of competence which allows all

employees and their representatives to make a responsible and informed contribution to

the health and safety effort.

There is a shared common understanding of the organisation's vision, values and beliefs. A

positive health and safety culture is fostered by the visible and active leadership of senior

managers.

Planning

There is a planned and systematic approach to implementing the health and safety

policy through an effective health and safety management system.

The aim is to minimise risks. Risk assessment methods are used to decide on priorities and

to set objectives for eliminating hazards and reducing risks. Wherever possible, risks are

eliminated through selection and design of facilities, equipment and processes. If risks

cannot be eliminated, they are minimised by the use of physical controls or, as a last resort,

through systems of work and personal protective equipment. Performance standards are

established and used for measuring achievement. Specific actions to promote a positive

health and safety culture are identified.

Measuring performance

Performance is measured against agreed standards to reveal when and where

improvement is needed.

Active self-monitoring reveals how effectively the health and safety management system is

functioning. This looks at both hardware (premises, plant and substances) and software

(people, procedures and systems) including individual behaviour and performance. If

controls fail, reactive monitoring discovers why by investigating accidents, ill health or

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incidents which could cause harm or loss. The objectives of active and reactive monitoring

are:

• to determine the immediate causes of substandard performance; and

• to identify the underlying causes and the implications for the design and operation of the

health and safety management system.

Longer~term objectives are also monitored.

Auditing and reviewing performance

The organisation learns from all relevant experience and applies the lessons.

There is a systematic review of performance based on data from monitoring and fromindependent audits of the whole health and safety management system. These form the

basis of self-regulation and of complying with sections 2 to 6 of the Health and Safety at

Work etc Act 1974 (HSW Act) and other relevant statutory provisions. There is a strong

commitment to continuous improvement involving the constant development of policies,

systems and techniques of risk control. Performance is assessed by:

• internal reference to key performance indicators; and

•

external comparison with the performance of business competitors and best practice,irrespective of employment sector.

Performance is also often recorded in annual reports.

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4.0 Recent Developments in OH&S Management Systems

Standardisation

In recent years a great deal of emphasis has been placed on standards and standardisation.

One of the main reasons for this is that most major companies in the industrially developed

world are multinational and favour a standardised approach to aspects of their business.

Over the last decade the International Standards Organisation (ISO) has produced two

major standards for organisations namely:

• ISO 9000 series: Quality Management Systems

• ISO 14000 series: Environmental Management Systems

Both these standards integrate their respective functions within a business and managementframework and have been developed internationally by the world community.

A standard is defined by the BSI as:

A document, established by consensus and approved by a recognised body, that provides for common and repeated use, rules, guidelines, or characteristics for activities or their results, aimed at the achievement of the optimum degree of order in a given context.

Such Standards are voluntary and are designed to be externally verified by nationally

accredited bodies. It is argued that companies who register with these schemes will

experience market advantages, a better relationship with regulatory authorities, investors,

insurance companies as well as experiencing financial benefits through greater efficiency.

Within these series mentioned above there are two types of ‘standards’ document, which are

specifications and guidance documents.

• A specification is a “detailed set of requirements to be satisfied by a product, material,

process or system, indicating the procedures for checking conformity to these

requirements”. Specifications are written in such a way to enable conformity to be

verified by any first party (supplier), second party (purchaser) or third party (independent

certifier).

• A guidance document provides advice rather than a set of verifiable requirements and is

designed as an internal management tool.

It has long been recognised that a health and safety management system is analogous to an

environmental management system and much debate has taken place across the world onwhether such a certifiable standard should be produced for health and safety management

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systems. The ISO 14001 management system model is shown in the figure below and as

can be seen there is a great deal of overlap with the HSE model described earlier.

Status

ReviewReviewOHSOHS

PolicyPolicyPlanninPlannin

gg

OHS PolicyOHS Policy

PlanningPlanning

Implementation

& Operation

Implementation

& OperationCheckinCorrectivActio

Checking &CorrectiveAction

ContinuIm rovem

Continual

Improvement

Mana emeRevie

Mana ement

Review

In 1997 the ISO decided for various reasons not to proceed with the development of a formal

international standard on health and safety management systems. As a result a number of individual country based standards have been produced, and a recent survey undertaken by

the University of Michigan 2 identified a total of 31 standards, guidance documents and

codes of practice available in the world community. The publishers of these documents

include national and state/provincial governments, national standards organisations and

professional health and safety associations. The UK was one of the first countries to

produce such a document when in 1996 the British Standards Organisation produced BS

8800.

BS 8800

BS8800 3was written as a guidance document and describes how the management system

models in both the HSE publication (HSG65) and ISO 14001 can be used to enable the

2 Dairymple at al (1998), Occupational Health & Safety Management Systems: Review and Analysis

of International, national and regional systems and proposals for a new international document,

Report prepared by International Occupational Hygiene Association for the International Labour

Office.

3 BSI (1996): BS8800: Guide to Occupational Health and Safety Management Systems.

9



integration of health and safety management within an overall management system. BS8800

is intended to be suitable for both large and small organisations covering a wide range of

manufacturing and service industries and gives advice on:

• How to evaluate shortcomings with an existing health & safety management

system (OHSMS);

• What an adequate system should comprise of;

• How to progress from existing system to an adequate system.

Over 7000 copies of BS8800 were sold in the first twelve months and absence of any

‘officially’ accredited certification scheme lead to a large number of organisations offering

‘unofficial’ certification to the guidance.

The OHSAS Series

Following the success of BS8800 and the concern over the number of organisations, such

as consultancies offering independent certification to the guidance in BS8800, several

organisations (both from the UK and internationally) lead by the BSI got together to produce

a OHSMS specification. The principal aim of this was to produce some consistency. The

result was the publication in 1999 of OHSAS 180014. This is not an official British Standard

nor an ISO standard, however many of the major accreditation companies are offering

certification to the standard.

The management system model used in OHSAS 18001 is the ISO 14001 model. As a

specification, OHSAS 18001 lists a number of management system requirements using

‘shall’ statements such as ‘the organisation shall establish and maintain documented health

and safety objectives, at each relevant function and level within the organisation’ .

The elements and sub-elements of OHSAS 18001 are shown in the diagram below:

4 BSI (1999): OHSAS 18001: Occupational Health and Safety Management Systems – Specification.

10



Status

ReviewReviewOHSOHS

PolicyPolicyPlanninPlannin

gg

OHS PolicyOHS Policy

PlanningPlanning

Implementation

& Operation

Implementation

& OperationCheckinCorrectivActio

Checkin &Corrective

Action

ContinuIm rovem

Continual

Improvement

Mana emeRevie

ManagementReview

1. OH&S Policy

1.1. The Health & Safety Policy

2. Planning

2.1. Planning for hazard identification, risk

assessment and control

2.2. Legal and other requirements

2.3. Objectives

2.4. OH&S management programme(s)

3. Implementation and Operation

3.1. Structure and responsibility

3.2. Training, awareness and competence

3.3. Consultation and Communication

3.4. Documentation

3.5. Document and data control

3.6. Operational Control

3.7. Emergency preparedness and response

4. Checking and Corrective Action

4.1. Performance measurement and monitoring

4.2. Accidents, incidents, non-conformances

and corrective and preventative action

4.3. Records and record management

4.4. Audit

5. Management Review

5.1. Management Review

In 2000 the BSI produced OHSAS 18002 5 to provide generic guidance on the application of

18001. This document describes the intent, typical inputs, processes and typical outputs,

against each requirement of 18001 listed above in order to aid the understanding and

implementation of OHSAS 18001.

5 BSI (2000): OHSAS 18002 Occupational Health and Safety Management Systems: Guidelines for

the Implementation of OHSAS 18001.

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5.0 Practical Aspects of a H&S Management system

Whatever the management system adopted whether it be that of OHSAS 18001, the HSE or

any other international model, they are all based on the systems model described earlier (i.e.

input, process, output and feedback) and all have a number of common requirements.

This purpose of this section is to look at some of those common elements from a practical

perspective. The order these elements are presented is based on the OHSAS18001 model.

The Health and Safety Policy

An OH&S policy establishes an overall sense of direction and sets the principles of action for

an organisation. It sets goals for the level of OHS responsibility and performance required

from the organisation. It demonstrates the formal commitment towards good OH&S

management, particularly that of the organisation’s top management.

Under the Health and Safety at Work Act, 1974, there is an obligation on all organisations

with five or more employees to prepare a written statement of general policy on occupational

health and safety. Most organisations should, therefore, already have a ‘mission’ statement

committing themselves to managing health and safety effectively.

BS8800 sets out nine specific commitments that must be included to develop a

comprehensive policy statement.

1. Recognising that OH&S is an integral particle of its business performance

OH&S should not be a 'bolt-on' to your existing management process. It is essential

that a proactive approach is adopted, embracing OH&S within the overall management

system. This is the most cost effective way and one which will reap the maximum

benefit for the organisation.

2. Achieving a high level of OH&S performance, with compliance to legal requirements as a

minimum, and to continual cost-effective improvement in performance.

Inevitably society's expectations are increasing pressure on organisations to reduce the

risk of ill-health accidents and near-miss incidents in the workplace. In addition to

meeting legal responsibilities, the aim should be to move ahead, in a cost-effective

manner to improve OH&S performance, and continuously evolve the management

system to meet changing business and legislatory needs.

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3. Provide adequate and appropriate resources to implement the policy

Planning and adequate preparation are the key to successful implementation. Often

policy statements and objectives are unrealistic because there are inadequate and/or

inappropriate resources available to deliver them.

4. The setting and publishing of OH&S objectives, even if only by internal notification'

While the basic requirements and aims of health and safety management remain, the

impetus of producing and reviewing an annual plan acts as a business focus. It also

enables organisations to demonstrate to employees and other stakeholders how OH&S

management is being developed. All employees should be aware of the objectives.

5. Place the management of OH&S as a prime responsibility of line management, from the

most senior executive to first line supervisory level

Including a safety objective as part of the annual management performance review

reinforces this responsibility as well as maintaining an individual focus on your specific

safety targets.

6. To ensure that the policy statement is understood, implemented and maintained at all

levels in the organisation

Any policy statement should be clear and concise and related to the activities of the

organisation. Effective communication to staff at all levels throughout the organisation isvital. Initial induction training should be used to demonstrate to new staff from day one

the genuine commitment of the organisation to OH&S management.

7. Employee involvement and consultation to gain commitment to the policy and its

implementation.

Involving employees is often neglected. In most, if not all industries, employees wish to

contribute, positively to OH&S management to reduce the likelihood of costly incidents

and/or claims. At the end of the day, they recognise that OH&S needs to be managed

cost-effectively to maintain the security of their employment and the quality of their work-

environment.

8. Periodic review of the policy, the management system and audit of compliance to policy

OH&S management cannot be compartmentalised. It must evolve continually as part of

overall management philosophy to meet changing business demands, new legislation

and new technology, as well as maintaining the complete involvement of all employees.

9. Ensure that employees at all levels receive appropriate training and are competent tocarry out their duties and responsibilities.

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It is a common misconception that the only employees needing training are those

working at the sharp end. This is not the case: management at all levels need to

understand their responsibilities and be competent to undertake the tasks they are

required to perform.

Training must be appropriate to the needs of each employee and to the positive benefit

of the organisation.

Training should not be a 'one-off but tailored to business demands and supported by

appropriate refresher courses to maintain standards,

Planning for Health & Safety Management

From the outset, it is essential that there is commitment at the highest level within the

organisation to the OH&S management system. The planning process should be based on a

proactive approach, identifying those areas of risk that are not tolerable, and putting in place

controls wherever this is deemed to be necessary. Planning for OH&S involves:

• Identifying requirements for the system - what needs to be done

• Setting clear performance criteria -what is to be done

• Identifying who is responsible - who gets it done

• Setting time scales – when it should be done

by

• Identifying the desired outcome -what should be the result

Both BS8800 and OHSAS 18001 identify three key areas which need to be addressed

during the planning stage.

Risk Assessment and Management

The intent of this requirement is so that the organisation can appreciate all significant OH&S

hazards facing it using the process of risk management. This is described in full in another

part of this course.

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Legal requirements

The organisation should identify all legal requirements applicable to it as well as any other

industry or company specific requirements to which it subscribes

Health & Safety Objectives and Programmes

Health and safety objectives are a major part of a management system and are defined as

“the goals in terms of H&S performance that an organisation sets itself to achieve and

should be quantified wherever practicable”.

OH&S Objectives should be set annually. Examples of types of an OH&S objective include:

• The introduction of additional features into the OH&S management system (e.g. permit

to work systems for specific tasks, strategic OH&S safety training for supervisors etc.)

• The improvement of existing features, or the constancy of their application across the

organisation (e.g. accident reporting, communication of standard procedures etc.).

• The elimination or the reduction in frequency of particular undesired incidents (e.g.

reduce accidents by 20%, remove all hazardous material etc.)

Suitable indicators should be defined for each objective. These indicators should allow for

the monitoring of the implementation of the objectives.

Formal action plans should be drawn up for each OH&S objective that has been identified.

These should form the basis of the business plans for each forthcoming year.

The OH&S action plans should identify the:

• Individuals who are responsible for the deliverance of the objectives across

the organisation and/or within each operation

• Various tasks that need to be undertaken in order to meet each objective.

These action plans should be developed in consultation with the responsible person(s).

Implementation & Operation

For successful implementation and operation of an OH&S management system the following

requirements should be addressed.

Roles and Responsibilities

At all levels within the organisation, people need to be aware of their roles and

responsibilities. According to BS8800 the following aspects should be addressed:

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1) Individual OH&S responsibilities should be clearly defined. Where job

descriptions are used it may be appropriate to include such responsibilities.

2) All personnel should be given the authority and resources (including time)

necessary to carry out their responsibilities.

3) Appropriate arrangements should exist whereby people are held accountable

for discharging their responsibilities.

4) Reporting relationships should be clear and unambiguous.

5) Where personnel appraisal systems exist OH&S responsibilities should be

included.

Training & Competence

The quarry should have effective procedures for ensuring the competence of personnel to

carry out their designated functions. According to BS8800 the OH&S management system

should include:

1. Systematic identification of the competencies required by each employee and

the training needed to remedy any shortfall.

2. Provision of training identified as being necessary in a timely and systematic

manner;

3. Assessment of individuals to ensure that they have acquired and maintain the

knowledge and skills necessary for the level of competence required.

4. The maintenance of appropriate training/skills records.

Ensuring the training and competence of employees is also a specific requirement of the

Quarries Regulations, 1999 (Regulation 9).

Consultation & Communication

The organisation should encourage participation in, and support for, OH&S, from all those

affected by its operations, by a process of consultation and communication. BS8800 states

that organisations need to ensure that they have effective arrangements for:

A. Identifying and receiving relevant OH&S information from outside the

organisation including:

1. New, or amendments to legislation;

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2. Information necessary for the identification of hazards and evaluation

and control of risks;

3. Information and developments in OH&S management practice.

B. Ensuring that pertinent OH&S information is communicated to all people in

the organisation who need it. This requires arrangements to:

1. Determine information needs;

2. Ensure that these needs are met, bearing in mind the legal

requirement that relevant information has to be provided in a form and

manner that is comprehensible to the person receiving it.

3. Ensure that information does not just flow from the top down, but also

from the bottom up and across the various parts of the organisation.

4. Avoiding restricting OH&S items to dedicated OH&S meetings by

including them on the agenda of a variety of meetings wherever

appropriate.

5. Report hazards and shortcomings in OH&S arrangements;

C. Ensuring that relevant information is communicated to people outside the

organisation who require it.

D. Encouraging feed-back and suggestions from employees on OH&S matters.

Documentation

The organisation should document, and maintain up-to-date sufficient documentation to

ensure that its OH&S management system can be adequately understood and effectively

and efficiently operated.

This requirement will be covered later in the course as it is analogous to Regulation 7 of the

Quarries Regulations, 1999 which require the production of a health and safety document.

Operational Control

The organisation should establish and maintain arrangements to ensure that activities are

carried out safely. These arrangements should be based on the results of the risk

assessment, and any health and safety objectives that have been defined. Depending on the

results of the risk assessment these arrangements could be in the form of instructions, rules

and procedures, which are a specific requirement of the Quarry Health and Safety

Document (Regulation 7) and Regulation 10 of the Quarries Regulations, 1999.

17



The organisation should also plan and prepare for all foreseeable accident, incident and

emergency situations. This again should be based on the risk assessment and is a

requirement of Regulation 15 of the Quarries Regulations, 1999.

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Measuring Performance

“If you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it.”

- Peter Drucker

“Management will attach an increased dimension of importance toanything that is quantified.”

- Frank E. Bird

“Performance measurement and motivation are almost synonymous.”

- Dan Peterson

“What gets measured gets done.”

- Thomas J. Peters

Performance measurement is an essential part of a OH&S management system. According

to BS8800 and OHSAS 18002 the key purposes of measuring performance are to:

1) Determine whether OH&S plans have been implemented and objectives

achieved;

2) Check that risk control measures are in place and are effective;

3) Learn from system failures such as areas of non-compliance, accidents and

incidents.

4) Promote the implementation of plans and risk controls by providing feedback

to all parties

5) Provide information that can be used to review, and if necessary to improve

aspects of an OH&S management system.

An organisation’s performance measurement system should incorporate both active and

reactive monitoring as follows:

• Active measuring systems should be used to check compliance with the

organisations OH&S activities. Examples of active monitoring data are:

• The extent to which plans andobjectives have been set andachieved.

• Whether a director for OH&Shas been appointed.

• Extent of compliance with statutoryrequirements Frequency of OH&S audits

• Frequency and effectiveness of OH&Scommittee meetings.

• OH&S specialist reports

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• Whether a safety policy hasbeen published.

• The numbers trained in OH&S

• Number of risk assessmentscompleted

• Extent of compliance with riskcontrols

• Health Surveillance reports

• Workplace exposure levels

• Personal protective equipment use.

• Reactive monitoring should be used to investigate, analyse and record OH&S

management system failures, including accidents and incidents. Examples of

reactive monitoring data include:

• Unsafe Acts

• Unsafe conditions

• Near misses

• Lost time accidents

• Major accidents & fatalities

• Sickness absences

• Criticisms made by regulatory agency staff

• Complaints made by members of the public.

Investigating Accidents and Incidents

Organisations should have procedures for both the reporting and investigating of accidents

and incidents. The prime purpose of these procedures should be to prevent further

occurrence of the situation by identifying and dealing with the root causes. Accident andIncident Investigation is covered later in this course.

Auditing

OH&S auditing is a process whereby an organisation can review and continuously evaluate

the effectiveness of their OH&S management system.

Safety auditing is a positive and proactive means of checking the safety performance of an

organisation. The general principals of auditing below are based on those given in OHSAS

18002.

Scheduling

An annual plan should be prepared for carrying out internal safety audits. The safety audit

should cover the entire operation which is subject to the OH&S management system, and

assess compliance with OHSAS 18001. Audits should be carried out according to a written

procedure, and only by competent independent personnel. The results of the audits should

be recorded and reported to management. A review should be carried out by management

and effective corrective actions(s) taken, where necessary.

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Management Support

For OH&S auditing to be of value, senior management should be fully committed to the

concept of auditing and its effective implementation within the organisation . This includes a

commitment to consider audit findings and recommendations and to take appropriate action

as necessary, within an appropriate time. Once it has been agreed that an audit should be

carried out it should be completed in an impartial way. All relevant personnel should be

informed of the purposes of auditing and the benefits. Staff should be encouraged to co-

operate fully with the auditors and to respond to their questions honestly.

Audits

Audits provide a comprehensive and formal assessment of the organisation’s compliance

with OH&S procedures and practices. The end result of an audit should include a detailedwritten assessment of OH&S procedures, the levels of compliance with procedures and

practices and should where necessary identify corrective actions.

Auditors

One or more persons may undertake audits. A team approach may widen the involvement

and improve co-operation. They should be independent of the part of the organisation or the

activity that is to be audited.

Auditors need to understand their task and be competent to carry it out. Thy need to have

the experience and knowledge of the relevant standards and systems they are auditing to

enable them to evaluate performance and identify deficiencies. Auditors should be familiar

with the requirements set out in any relevant legislation. In addition, auditors should be

aware of and have access to standards and authoritative guidance relevant to the work they

are engaged in.

Data collection and interpretation

The techniques and aids used in the collection of the information will depend on the nature

of the audit being undertaken. The audit should ensure that a representative sample of

essential activities is included in the audit and various personnel should be interviewed.

Relevant documentation should be examined. This may include.

• OH&S management system documentation

• OH&S Policy statement

• OH&S emergency procedures

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• Permit to work systems and procedures

• Minutes of OH&S meetings

• Accident/Incident Reports and records

• Training records

• Reports or communication with the enforcing authority

Wherever possible checks should be built into the system to help to avoid misinterpretation

or misapplication of audit records.

Audit results

At the end of the audit, and before submitting their report, the auditor or the Audit teamshould hold a meeting with the responsible manager of the audited area. The main purpose

of such a meeting is to communicate the results of the audit to the responsible manager in

order to ensure that it is understood and agreement is reached. Minutes should be kept of

such meetings.

The content of the final audit report should be clear, precise and complete. It should be

dated and signed by the auditor. It should, depending on the case, contain the following

elements:

• The audit objectives and scope

• the particulars of the audit plan, identification of the members of the auditing

team and the audited representative, dates of audit and identification of the area

subject to audit;

• The identification of reference handbooks used to conduct the audit;

• The cases of non conformance.

• The auditors assessment of the degree of conformity to OHSAS 18001

• The ability of the OH&S management system to achieve the stated OH&S

objectives

The results of all audits should be fed back to all relevant parties as soon as possible to

allow corrective actions to be taken. As many employees as possible., including theemployee safety representative where selected, should be consulted on activities in their

22



area during each audit. An action plan of agreed remedial measures should be drawn up

together with identification of responsible persons, completion date, and reporting

requirements. Follow-up monitoring arrangements should be established to ensure

satisfactory implementation of the recommendations.

Documents

Health and Safety Management Notes