Marc said:
So it's still in OHSAS's hands. Is this expected to end up in ISO's hands?
Marc, due to increased interest in the corporate social responsibility aspect, I believe it is a matter of time until ISO succumbs to market pressure and start working on a Occupational Health & Safety Management System Standard.
However, for the time being, the latest "official" position from ISO is the one contained in their press release, back in June 2000, which states:
"...On occupational health and safety (OH&S), the TMB received a report on the result of the vote by ISO members on a BSI (British Standards Institution) proposal that ISO establish a technical committee to transform BS 8800, the British OH&S management system guidelines into an ISO standard. Twenty-nine members had voted in favour of the proposal, but 20 others had voted negatively. Under ISO rules, acceptance of such a proposal requires approval by two-thirds of the members voting. The TMB decided, accordingly, that no such committee should be set up.
Following the ISO members' negative vote on the OHSMS proposal, TMB also decided that it would be not be appropriate to pursue an ILO (International Labour Office) offer for ISO to collaborate on the latter's own project to develop a standard on OHSMS.
This is the second time that ISO has decided not to launch OHSMS work, the previous occasion being three years ago, after a consultation of stakeholders through a major international workshop. . .."
And PS, there is already an "ISO 18001" document: ISO/IEC TR 18001:2004 Information technology -- Radio frequency identification for item management -- Application requirements profiles