The safety of employees at their workplace is an issue of prime importance. This has been repeatedly laid stress on. This is why the International Standardization Organization or ISO has come up with ISO 18001 (Occupational Health and Safety Management Systems). The workers spend maximum amount of their time in offices, factories, go-downs etc.
where they are inevitably exposed to heavy machinery, chemicals, and other hazardous objects. Hence, it is our duty to safeguard the lives of the people who form the backbone of our companies. This safety measure is especially applicable for people who work in large industries and exposed to chemicals and other toxic substances which are highly fatal in nature.
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As an owner or citizen, whatever may be, our duty is to provide a safe and healthy environment for our workers. Just to provide compensation to the hurt or the diseased is definitely not enough.
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As the saying goes, “It is better to be safe than sorry” We should by principle try to evade these problems from their initial stages which would entail taking safety measures. More and more companies are now laying stress on the importance of safe environments at the workplace and are hence designing it according to the management systems which are in accordance with ISO standards.
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Obeying the Occupational Health and Safety Management Systems does not essentially relieve employees from the legal obligations of OHSAS claims but it enhances employees’ response to safety measures and is also an effective tool to evoke responsibility to keep the environment completely safe and ensures measures to achieve that. An ISO-certified employer is safeguarding the health of not only his/her employees but also the family members, customers, suppliers, and communities.
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In case the organization is a small one, it is advisable that you appoint someone as the Occupational Health and Safety Officer and in case of larger companies you might have an entire team dedicated to OH&S. The team comprises primarily of a safety professional, an occupational hygiene specialist, an occupational physician and a work and organizational specialist. These professionals maintain and design the various regulations and ensure that they are in accordance with the ISO standards.
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They create and maintain safety program forms, monitor program implementation outcomes, provide organization-wide OHSAS 18001 training and provide safety reports. The officer executes, enhances and maintains the safety provisions in the organization and looks into the meticulous and conscientious continuance of it so that the company is worthy of attaining the ISO 18001 certification.
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There are various techniques for getting the certification. Unlike popular belief, obtaining it is actually rather simple and is a matter of forty-five days. While posting the initial audit session, all one needs to do is incorporate the changes that have been pointed out and maintain them with an inclusive mentality into the working system of the organization.
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The suggested changes while conducting the OHSAS 18001 training are always of a fundamental nature which might have overlooked your keen vision due to the daily bad habits of your employees to function in an environment that is essentially lacking in basic safety measures. Involving each and every one of your employees in the safety measures will ensure the fact that they remember the team and do not relapse into the initial unsafe environment after the certification is received.
Thus in order to make certain that your employees are not going to forget these new measures incorporated, you need to maintain and practice the measures whenever possible. A good example of this would be holding safety drills once every three months. Most importantly appointing a worthy individual for the officer’s role is mandatory since a lot of responsibilities reside on his/her shoulders.
