INTEGRATED HEALTH MANAGEMENT SYSTEM

Integrated Health Management System

Health, Safety and Environmental risk assessment procedure

Introduction

With the advent of technology, organisations (schools) have realised the importance of providing a safe workplace setting to their employees. On the federal level, the governments have enticed the organisations (schools) to enforce and comply with the prescribed standards so that employees are able to work in safe environments without fear of hazards or any health-related mishaps. Two of most fundamental standards, which are being commonly used in organisations (schools), are ISO 14001 and OHSAS 18001 Standards. This paper presents the implementation of an integrated health and risk management procedure. This procedure streamlines the existing practices with regards to the compliance of two standards mentioned above. For this purpose, I have selected a school, ABC Folks School, located in South London. There are approximately 500 individuals employed at this school.Discussion

The employees working at ABC Folks School are not satisfied with the internal environment of the organisation. They have serious concern about their exposure to chemicals and environmental hazards, while working in a Chemistry Lab. They hold the opinion that the workers are forced to work in an unsuitable environment, where practices regarding health and safety of employees are not followed. The situation has continued for the last eight months. Three of the senior lab employees have resigned, while citing poor working conditions in the organisation as the foremost reason for their decision. It is the high time for ABC Folks School to look into this matter. Keeping in view the grave situation, the administration of ABC Folks School has decided to revise its policy in accordance with the provisions of ISO 14001 and OHSAS 18001 standards to win the confidence of the employees.ISO 14001 Standards

ISO 14001 - is a universally accepted international standard that defines a mechanism for implementation of effective environmental management system (EMS). This standard provides a delicate balance between maintaining profitability and reducing the impact on the environment.OHSAS 18001 Standards

OHSMS and OHSAS 18001 (BS 8800) do not have an accreditation scheme equivalent to ISO 14000 or ISO 9000. It helps to evaluate and certify their management systems for health and safety at work. The basic concept of this specification OHSAS 18001 base on continuous improvement of risk management for health and safety at work, even if it does not establish requirements for performance level.Procedure

Engineering school needs to redesign its operational activities for effective implementation of ISO14001 and OHSAS 18001 management system in the School. This includes addressing the teaching, research, and administration department functions in respect of enhancing health, safety, and environmental sustainability performance. The process begins with the establishment of organizational policies on health and safety of employees, and code of conduct to guide the actions of working staff in the school. School management should establish and implement work safety procedures to scrutinize and measure performance of employees on a regular basis. OHS (Organization health and safety) policy is followed by the planning phase to examine the impact of OHS policy on the organization environment, and health & safety of ...