OHSAS 18001 requires that your organization’s procedure for hazard identification and risk assessment take into account “human behavior, capabilities and other human factors”. Many organizations partially address this requirement by establishing an ergonomics program in order to address physical human factors. Only a few organizations explicitly address mental human factors as a part of their [...]
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The hazard identification/risk assessment section of OHSAS 18001 (Section 4.3.1) requires that your procedures take into account “human behavior, capabilities and other human factors.” The need for considering “the human element” was brought home to me by the recent flurry of articles and news reports covering the hazards associated with using cell phones when driving. [...]
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I spent the 4th of July at Disney. It was the first time I have been to Disney in several years. The fireworks display was truly impressive. After the fireworks were over, we made our way back to our hotel using Disney’s transit system. I was once again struck by Disney’s ability to efficiently manage [...]
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I recently had the following question e-mailed to me – “What is the “Hierarchy of Controls” [referenced in section 4.3.1 of OHSAS 18001:2007] and how do I address it in the hazard control & risk assessment procedure?” The “hierarchy of controls” is a protocol that you use when deciding what kind of control measures you [...]
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One of the requirements of OHSAS 18001 is to identify all of your workplace hazards, including those that may cause “ill health”. This includes illnesses that are made worse by a work activity. This analysis also needs to be extended to individuals beyond the borders of the traditional workplace. ABC News reported on just such a situation [...]
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In a previous post, I discussed that there is no single, fill-in-the-blank, process for conducting an OHS hazard identification and risk assessment. Instead, what is needed is an assembly of individual processes that, when taken together, result in a comprehensive OHSMS risk management strategy. It is equivalent to assembling a meal from an a la [...]
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One of the requests I commonly get from organizations seeking to integrate occupational health and safety into an existing environmental management system is – “Can you provide a generic risk assessment process I can just plug into my aspect/impact procedure?” The short answer to this request is “No.” This is the fundamental difference between the OHSAS [...]
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As discussed in previous posts, OHSAS 18001:2007 has a foundation based on risk management principles. To meet the OHSAS 18001 requirements, an organization must: Identify its OH&S hazards Assess the risks associated with the OH&S hazards that are identified Determine the controls that are necessary to reduce OH&S risks to an acceptable level Identification of [...]
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I attended the annual American Industrial Hygiene Association conference (AIHce) last week in Minneapolis, Minnesota. There were many excellent sessions covering a wide range of topics important to the practice of industrial hygiene. In particular, the Tuesday morning general session focused on demonstrating the value of the industrial hygiene profession and included a presentation by Jeffrey [...]
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Although it is often used as a term of art in the safety field, “management of change” is not a defined term in OHSAS 18001:2007. It is, however; vital to an effective OH&S management system. Explicit requirements for management of change were added into section 4.3.1 of OHSAS 18001 in the 2007 revision of the [...]
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