I am looking to purchase a copy of OHSAS 18001 anywhere in Canada or the United States.

Can anyone give me a contact.

Thank you.

You can get one from BSI or CEEM. I don't have the web addresses handy, but you can get links from the RAB web page. Look under either the Registrar or Training Provider directories. You will need 18001 & 18002.:)

I have a 99 edition and if I remeber correctly I was able to download for free at the BSI site or possibly the DNV site.

Originally posted by gpainter

I have a 99 edition and if I remeber correctly I was able to download for free at the BSI site or possibly the DNV site.If you downloaded it for free and it's under 800K, you can upload it here as an attachment in a reply in this thread. :thedeal:

Marc, I have tried to find it and have been unsuccessful. My computer is on a slim line and I have to forward some things to the IS people to open and print. They normally save it but have ceased to do it. I will continue to try to find where I got it from.

No big deal. You know me - pushy! :thedeal:

It's being adopted by quite a few organizations as an add on to their 14K programs. The US under the AIHA is actively involved in developing a similar standard. There are some issues with the 18K standard that bother some folks because of the "awareness" it brings about existing conditions. What people fail to accept is that having a program in place doesn't increase your liabilities as an employer. All employers are automatically required to know and are supposed to know about all things anyway.

Does this help?:bigwave:

Might be worth noting that you cannot get an accredited third party certificate for OHSAS 18001 in the UK, dont know if this is also true in the US.

I think this is because it is not a recognised national or international standard, but something that has been created by interested parties (certification bodies !!) to fill a gap in their market.

MG
Given that OHSAS 18001 is a BSI document, who else but the British would be offering certification to it anyway. (And I'm struggling to believe you can't be OHSAS 18001 certified in the UK, given what the BSI website says)

Better off opting for DNV's ISIR or some other internationally applied system, perhaps.

You can get certified but it wont be an accredited certificate. In the UK that means you wont be able to display the UKAS logo in addition to the certifiers logo.

Which basically reduces the credibility of the certificate somewhat as there is no-one independantly checking the checkers (if you know what I mean). Dont know how this applies in the states.

Just some thoughts on Health & Safety Management Systems. OHSAS 18001 was introduced because there is a demand for assessment of H & S Management Systems. Organizations want to have an independent review of a systematic approach to H & S in the same way that people want Third Party recognition of QMSs.

ISO did look at publication of an International standard for H & S Management Systems but I understand it was vetoed by, among others, the USA. Reasons are not known to me.

BSI in the UK developed a guidance document for H & S Management Systems, BS 8800. This was deliberately a guide and not certificated and hence OHSAS 18001 came to be (I'm not sure if it is only BSI who developed this, can someone fill the gaps?), sort of BS 8800 with all the "shoulds" replaced by "shalls".

As Marc mentioned Certification is possible but there is no Accreditation of Certification Bodies.

Both the RvA and ANSI-RAB are putting together an Accreditation Scheme for Certification of Occupational Health & Safety Management Systems.

Quality System Update, March 02 has an article about the RAB efforts in this area.

First OHSAS 18001 Accreditation (Certification)
DNV Italy has received accreditation for OHSAS 18001


On 21-03-2002 DNV Italy S.r.l received accreditation for OHSAS 18001 from SINCERT. The accreditation is in accordance with ISO Guide 66 and covers the following: EA sector 12 (Chemicals, chemical products and fibers) and EA sector 14 (Rubber and plastic products)

--------------------------------------------

DNV Rotterdam is also working for accreditation under RvA and we expect to hear good news in this area very soon.

I am trying to collate information about the number of OHSAS 18001 certificates isssued world-wide,there is no equivalent to the ISO survey to aid in this. Can anybody help?
Thank you

Clive,
Better call up DNV and BSI.

In Australia alone (off the top of my head) you can have your safety system certified against:
1. SafetyMAP
2. AS4801
3. DNVs ISRS
4. NSCA 5star

And I'm sure there are others.

What I'm trying to point out is that safety systems, and their infrequent certification, can have a multitude of certification models. Merely looking at 18001 is extremely limiting.

It's rather like looking at AS9001 certifications. It barely scratches the surface of QMS certification.

Thanks David for the info
I actually work for BSI! The problem I have is that I am constantly asked for this information, and find it very difficult to find it!
Nils Desperandum

From DNV:

Can an accredited certificate be issued for OHSAS 18001?
No, at this time there is no accreditation scheme based on OHSAS 18001 offered by any national accreditation body (see also question no. 9). All certification bodies can only issue non-accredited certificates when auditing against OHSAS 18001. This will change in the second half of 2001.


When can the client expect to be offered an accredited certificate?
At present there are two (2) accreditation bodies (i.e. Raad voor Accreditatie-RvA, Dutch council for accreditation and the Korean Accreditation Body-KAB) working towards having an accredited OHSMS scheme (based on OHSAS 18001) ready by the second half of 2001.


The Internation Accreditation Forum may be able to help you with this @
http://www.accreditationforum.com

As may United Kingdom Accreditation Service UKAS @
http://www.accreditationforum.com/default.asp
NOTE: OHSAS18001 does not appear on their list of accreditation standards.


In OZ you can find out certifications to various standards @
http://www.standards.com.au/jasanz/Supplierquery.asp
where you can pick a standard and it gives you a list of those certified (which is just what you need for OHSAS18001)

David,

as I mentioned before, SINCERT (Italy) has developed and Accreditation Scheme of Occupational Health and Safety Management Systems. DNV has attained accreditation there.

RvA and ANSI-RAB are developing their accreditation schemes as well. Probably the RvA will be operational soon.

So, yes one can attain an accredited certificate to OHSAS 18001 under the Italian Scheme. Obviuosly the organization seeking certification needs NOT to be in Italy.

Regards,

Sidney,

Is DNV going to offer certs in the US and if so what will be the auditors qualifications?

Will DNV limit themselves to QMS types or will they actually require "REAL" safety experience as well as an auditing background?

We have already issued several certificates to OHSAS 18001 in the US.

For the most part, we do not use QMS types to do EMS or SMS audits. Actually our EMS auditors do have specific environmental management experience. A couple of our qms auditors were cross-trained to perform EMS audits, but they are the minority in DNV's EMS roster.

We have already cross trained some of our EMS auditors to perform OHSAS 18001 audits. There is much common ground there. Actually, in many organizations, the environmental compliance officer is also in charge of health and safety.

I am not going to delve into the DNV requirements. However, in addition to have the direct experience in the field, it is obvious that OHS auditors need to have a good understanding of the regulatory requirements, e.g., OSHA, Cal-OSHA, etc . . . as it applies to the specific audits being conducted.

Sidney Vianna said:
David,
as I mentioned before, SINCERT (Italy) has developed and Accreditation Scheme of Occupational Health and Safety Management Systems. DNV has attained accreditation there.

RvA and ANSI-RAB are developing their accreditation schemes as well. Probably the RvA will be operational soon.

So, yes one can attain an accredited certificate to OHSAS 18001 under the Italian Scheme. Obviuosly the organization seeking certification needs NOT to be in Italy.



Sidney, you're VERY, VERY lucky. I wrote a lengthy response to this post yesterday, but just before I finished, an excavator dug through the cable and *pop*, lights out.

I'm trying to help a guy in the UK, and you're giving me a totally unrelated, spagetti accredited, OSHA compliant advertisement for yourself.

What is the $value of this certificate in down-town California?

I'm sure you could pick up a DNV spagetti certificate at Pier 1 or China town in San Francisco, for the price of the cereal box it came in, and it would still be worthless.

Who are the poor suckers that have been deceived by your company into paying for this spagetti certificate?
Name them, unless this spagetti certificate is a ribbon of shame. Do companies pay to be embarrassed now?

DNV: Deliver No Value?

I'll jump in for Sid here David.

Any business entity that wants be a leader should manage every aspect of it's operations, that includes the overlooked areas of environmental and safety. Both E&S issues can (at least here in the civilized part of the world) can be extremely costly if not managed as a core part of the total operation.

Example: A few years ago I worked in EHS for a Fortune 100 corporation. The part of the corporation I worked for actually considered employees an expendable comodity. Consequently we ran up in 1 year alone $3.4 million in workers compensation costs. We had 390+ OSHA reportable injuries (900 employee company) and about 2 dozen people on disability at home. Somewhere the lights came on and within 18 months we brought that down to about $400K and 2 or 3 folks on disability. We did that by making it a core part of the operation. We didn't use OHSAS 18001, but the system we set in place would mirror it.

Answer me this Old Mystic One of the Outback...How much business would your organization have to do to recoup $3.4 million (US) workers compensation costs. These costs in the US are born by the company and come out of profit..no government assistance.

I push for OHSAS 18001 or any other program like it. Here in the states ANSI Z.10 may be used when finalized. OHSAS 18001 goes a little beyond a government program known as OSHA VPP that helps establish a framework for safety management and is also voluntary.

PS...Do I detect a little prejudice in the spagetti comments? As for naming companies, Sid probably can't because of his position and confidentiality issues.

David, I will give you the benefit of the doubt, because I am not so sure how to read your e-mail. Maybe you were incensed due to your power outage.

If you go back through this thread, you will see that people were asking or making comments about the possibility of attaining ACCREDITED certification to OHSAS 18001. My post was to clarify that. You posted a comment, using DNV as a a source, stating that it was NOT possible to attain an accredited certificate to that Std. However, that information is OUTDATED.

One of the nice things abouth this forum is that you have access to professionals that are in the forefront of what is happening in this business.

The value of non-accredited certificates is up to the certified organization to decide, as long as they are not deceived by the certifier about the "credentials" of the certificate.

A non-accredited certificate is the ONLY option available to an organization seeking a third-party attestation that their system conforms to a Standard to which no accreditation scheme exists. Concerning the organizations that have attained certification to the Standard, there is no secret. One can go to our website, search our list of clients by Std, and you will find them.

And, David, if you think accreditation is the only thing that adds value to a management system certificate, you need to re-think your position.

I just have a problem with people flogging non-accredited certificates, as a money making exercise. Might as well buy your qualifications off the internet.

The accreditation ensures (we wished) that the service provider is performing the audit to a minimum standards for competency, etc.

I personally believe that the companies on your website, listed with OHSAS certification, should have kept their money. But hey, fools and their money...

Randy said:
PS...Do I detect a little prejudice in the spagetti comments?


I thought the Italian Job accreditation was hilarious. Spagetti certification, is a parallel to "spagetti westerns". Made cheap and nasty in Italy, then American voices dubbed over. Sounded like much the same deal for a DNV OHSAS18001 certification to me.


As for the $3.4Million compo bills, the bottom line needed to change. The fact that it meant improving worker safety would appear to be coincidental.


Randy said:
How much business would your organization have to do to recoup $3.4 million (US)

Actual answer: one small project.
Comic answer: How much is that in Australian dollars? I think you could buy Australia for that much. Oh, wait, I think you already did!

David, working for an organization that is accredited in 22 different countries for multiple schemes, believe me when I say that I do know the value of accreditation.

I also know that there are organizations that do not want to wait before they have their systems assessed against a standard, to which no accreditation scheme exists. So, non-accredited certificates for sectors in which THERE IS NO ACCREDITATION BODY, serve a purpose.

Furthermore, while accreditation enhances (it does NOT ensure) the competency requirements and integrity of assessments, there are organizations that will do the right thing, even if they are not required to do so, due to the lack of an accreditation scheme.

In the mean time, I believe that the accreditation bodies have to improve a LOT their processes to establish competence requirements for auditors, and their policing practices, if they are to deliver on our expectations.

He's jerking your chain Sidney..if he can't do it, it doesn't need to be done.:biglaugh:

:)thanks for your support