The practical application of implementing OHSAS 18001 in a
recycling operation
Mark Cockburn ISS August 2010
Mark started by stating that the BS OHSAS
18001:2007 Occupational health and safety management systems was to
enable organizations to control OH&S risks and improve on its
performance.
The BS OHSAS 18001:2007 has
significant changes to the standard since the first edition which
was published in 1999. Amongst the changes are the much greater
emphasis on "health" rather than just "safety", and significantly
improved alignment to BS EN ISO 14001:2004 (to enable organizations
to develop "integrated management systems").
Mark gave us brief details of the
company concerned which was based in the north east of England and
had recently sustained a serious accident to an employee and was
under pressure from the enforcement authority to improve on work
practices. The Company worked in the waste recycling business and
it is known that this new industry has high levels of accidents (up
to four times that of the construction industry). From the start
Mark was given a substantial budget and the necessary power to make
thing happen at the company.
He and two others formed the team
to restructure and improve safety and risk management on site. He
started by getting the site organized for safety by spending on
hardware changes to items such as machinery, site layout,
pedestrian/vehicle separation and the all important buy in from
employees with increased hazard reporting to local on site “safety
persons”.
He used the sections with the BS
OHSAS 18001 standard to identify the procedures required and
introduced the concept of “keep it simple” in restricting documents
to 1 to 2 pages in length for all procedures and subsequent safe
systems of work.
Overall it took less than one year
to obtain accreditation to the standard and Mark was able to return
half of his original budget back to the company.
At the end of the presentation
there were a number of questions from the floor which Mark answered
with usual enthusiasm. The evening ended with the audience showing
their appreciation to Mark for a lively, practical and informative
presentation.
Best wishes to you all, and
hopefully see you again at our next event on 11 October 2010 which
will be from Douglas Leech on the chemical legislation known as
REACH.
Philip Gallimore
North Staffs South Cheshire
District - Media Officer
District Members who are logged in
can view the presentation in our past
meeting library.