OHSAS 18001 is an Occupation Health and Safety Assessment Series for health and safety management systems. It is designed to help organisations control occupational health and safety risks. It was developed in response to widespread demand for a recognised standard against which to be certified and assessed.

The OHSAS specification is applicable to any organisation that wishes to: * Establish an OH&S management system to eliminate or minimise risk to employees and other interested parties who may be exposed to OH&S risks associated with its activities. * Assure itself of its conformance with its stated OH&S policy * Demonstrate such conformance to others * Implement, maintain and continually improve an OH&S management system * Make a self-determination and declaration of conformance with this OHSAS specification. * Seek certification/registration of its OH&S management system by an external organisation

Benefits of OHSAS : * Reduce the exposure of employees and other parties to occupational health and safety risks associated with the organizations activities * Potential reduction in resultant costs * Greater assurance of conformance with occupational health and safety policy * Demonstration of conformance to third parties, and of due diligence generally * Consistent and proven management approach to H&S risks, present and future * Deployment of method for continual improvement of the occupational health and safety management system

Safety Statements The Safety Health and Welfare at Work Act 2005 requires all companies to have a Safety Statement (Safety Management System) in compliance with Section 20. The foundation of the Safety Statement lies in the identification of hazards and the assessment of risk associated with the companys activities. OHSS can develop Safety Statements for your business in compliance with this Act and improve your safety performance. The risks to your organisation from failing to manage workplace health and safety are significant at a time when workplace injuries are high and legislative requirements mounting. In many instances, such failures arise from lack of knowledge and systems to manage health and safety rather than deliberate actions on behalf of managers or directors. The most effective way to manage health and safety risks is to implement an Occupational Health & Safety Management system. These systems give a sound foundation to the management of risk. Whether a decision is made to adopt a formalised system or not it is advisable to work towards the recognised standard of for Occupational Health & Safety Management that is OHSAS 18001. OHSAS 18001 is based on the principle of risk management and is modelled on the ISO series of international standards. It can be easily integrated with other risk management systems. The advantage of working to this standard is that, if in the future, it is decided to seek accreditation to ISO 18001, then the foundations are in place for such accreditation. For more details on the benefits and details of OHSAS 18001 click here (link to previous section).

Inspections & Audits: *Safety is a concern for every company. OHSS Safety Audit programme is an easy-to-use replacement for paper-based systems of recording safety audits, performed within a business environment. Good Safety Management systems reliable on periodic evaluation of performance. Safety Audit allows you to build custom audit forms for all of your businesss audit needs. With Safety Audits intelligently designed interface, building and maintaining the audit forms could not be easier. For example, use Safety Audits default questions feature to instantly insert commonly used questions into new audit forms. Adding, modifying and removing audit questions is equally simple. Safety Audit includes a powerful search engine allowing you nearly unlimited, on-demand reporting possibilities. View results in different formats, including pie charts and line graphs. With Safety Audit you will see the information you want to see when you want to see it. Affordable and extremely simple to use, Safety Audit is a valuable tool for companies large and small. Contact OHSS for a demonstration. ABOUT OHSS OHSS was established in 2001 as an Occupational Health and Safety based consultancy with specialists in the area of general safety and Occupational hygiene. Founder Paul Foran has extensive experience in the field both as a consultant and as a former Inspector with the Health & Safety Authority (www.hsa.ie) , where he was heavily involved in formulating health and safety policy making and legislation. OHSS employs a diverse team of consultants who offer a combined 60 years experience of practical Health and Safety implementation and management. We draw on the core attributes of each individual consultant to deliver the highest standard of specialist health and safety services throughout Ireland and overseas as our role frequently takes a pan-European aspect, particularly when engaged by multi-nationals.