The Random House Unabridged Dictionary defines “plethora” as an “overabundance or excess.”  That certainly describes the situation when it comes to OH&S standards, particularly OH&S management system standards.
 
There are international OH&S standards, there are national OH&S standards and there are state and local OH&S standards.  In addition, there are standards developed by individual organizations and government [...]

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Using a different approach, one can seek to determine what a management system is by examining the definitions penned by the individuals who drafted the ISO management system standards.
The ISO Definition of a “Management System”
ANSI/ISO/ASQ ISO Q9000-2000 defines a “management system” as follows – a system (separately defined as a set of interrelated or interacting elements) to [...]

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Since OHSAS 18001 is intended to set a framework for an OH&S management system – like ISO 14001 sets a framework for an environmental management system and ISO 9001 sets a framework for a quality management system – it is probably worthwhile to explore just what a “management system” is.
 
To enjoy standard-setting is to enjoy defining terms.
 
There [...]

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OHSAS 18001 is a specification document (standard) that sets out requirements for establishing and implementing an occupational health and safety management system.
 
It was originally developed in 1999 by an independent group of national standards organizations and certification bodies.  Although it is not an ISO standard, OHSAS 18001 is structured the same way as ISO 14001, [...]

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