Introduction to Health and Safety at Work

18.7 
Conclusions on the three health 
and safety management systems
Three occupational health and safety management sys-
tems have been described in some detail in this chap-
ter and it has been shown that the similarities between 
them outweigh their differences. Any occupational health 
and safety management system will fail unless there is 
a positive health and safety culture within the organiza-
tion and the active involvement of internal and external 
stakeholders.
A structured and well-organized occupational health 
and safety management system is essential for the 
maintenance of high health and safety standards within 
all organizations and countries. Some systems, such as 
OHSAS 18001, offer the opportunity for integration with 
quality and environmental management systems. This 
enables a sharing of resources although it is important 
that technical activities, such as health and safety risk 
assessment, are only undertaken by persons trained and 
competent in that area.
For an occupational health and safety management 
system to be successful, it must address workplace 
risks and be ‘owned’ by the workforce. It is, therefore, 
essential that the audit process examines shop fl oor 
health and safety behaviour to check that it mirrors that 
required by the health and safety management system.
Finally, whichever system is adopted, there must be 
continual improvement in health and safety performance 
if the application of the occupational health and safety 
management system is to succeed in the long term.
18.8 
Other minor additions to the 
International General Certifi cate
The sources of health and safety information have 
been extended to include information provided by the 
websites or publicity offi ces of national or international 
agencies (e.g. International Labour Organisation (ILO), 
Occupational Safety and Health Administration (USA), 
European Agency for Safety and Health at Work (EU) 
and Worksafe (Western Australia)). The sources of infor-
mation covered in Chapter 1 are also included.
The hazards of working in unfamiliar countries and/or 
climates are important health and safety issues – snake 
bites, diseases (such as malaria and yellow fever) and 
Figure 18.12
Mobile tower crane – Cinque Terre, Italy.

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