‘ISO 18001’ is Confirmed!
- News
Earlier in the year, we shared rumours that OHSAS 18001 could finally be brought under the wing of ISO. Whilst it won’t be conveniently renamed ‘ISO 18001’ (that’s already been taken), we’re expecting to see the as yet untitled standard in 2016.
The team responsible for the standard is the ISO PC 283 Project Committee. Started this year, the first meeting is to be held by the British Standards Institute here in the UK in October.
As we’ve seen with the revisions of ISO’s popular management standards, there will be a number of drafts published and opportunities for stakeholders to offer their opinions on the direction of the health and safety management standard before its publication.
Whilst OHSAS 18001 is currently used in various countries, the British-born standard will finally become international with the assistance of ISO’s backing. Likewise, the ANSI Z10 standard used in the States will be superseded.
As previously, the new standard will follow ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 by using the common high level structure dubbed ‘Annex SL’. This is good news for current OHSAS 18001 users, as it means integration with the aforementioned ISO standards will be even simpler.
However, whilst the top structure is already set, the requirements are as yet unknown. As with ISO 9001’s revision, it is of course important that ‘ISO 18001’ is not only relevant for today’s users, but for years to come.