OHSAS 18001 Management Systems Improve Material Handling Safety

Learning Objectives

OHSAS 18001 is a robust yet flexible management system that provides the framework to improve the occupational health & safety performance of any organization.  The objective of this presentation is to share strategies and techniques to develop and implement an OHSAS 18001 management system.  The 18001 occupational health and safety management system can be implemented at fixed facilities, field service work sites and/or on-site contractor work sites located within a host facility.

Methods

This presentation shows how an on-site contractor that provides hazardous material collection, lab packing, transportation and disposal services to a major university implemented an OHSAS 18001 compliant management system.  A cross-functional team identified hazards, assessed the risks, and implemented operational controls.  New policies were added to formalize Hazard Identification and Prioritization, Corrective and Preventive Action, Continual Improvement, and Management Review.  Goals were set, responsibilities assigned and metrics established. Corrective and preventive action procedures were agreed upon.  A safe-behavior observation component was added to the incident/near-miss investigation process. 

Development / Results

This method was used to register the contractor’s on-site field services group at a major university to the OHSAS 18001 requirements.  This method is currently being used to platform a consistent OHSAS 18001 and OHSA VPP management throughout a nation-wide environmental services company.