in 2007 (18). The framework of the EMS ISO 14001:1996 was used in the development of OHSAS 18001:1999, with the language of 18001:1999 closely paralleling ISO 14001:1996. With its release, registration bodies began using OHSAS 18001 as an instrument by which organizations could certify its OHSMS.
With its development by a national standards organization (BSI), OHSAS 18001 was not, strictly speaking, an international standard. With the use of the numerical designation “18001,” confusion existed with thoughts that OHSAS 18001 was an ISO standard. As indicated, this standard evolved into the dominant OHSMS approach in use in many parts of the world. In some cases, countries such as Australia and India used OHSAS 18001 as the basis in the development of their own OHSMS standard. It is common for organizations to receive OHSAS 18001 conformance certificates along with their ISO 14001 certifications from the same registrar.
While the 18001 standard has been dominant in the OHS marketplace, up to the point of its revision in 2007, it received criticism because its development history was viewed as insular to registration agencies and its weakness in the area of employee participation. The 2007 revision included wider stakeholder participation.
6.2 International Labor Organization OHSMS
The ILO began its OH&S management system development activities shortly after ISO elected not to pursue development activities in this area in late 1996. The ILO's SafeWork division lead the agency's effort with the initial step of contracting a research study with the IOHA on OHS and EMS in use or development in the late 1990s (23). With the study findings in hand, the ILO formed a 21‐person working group of experts to develop the standard that followed its tripartite structure with 7 experts each from government, labor, and industry. The working group efforts culminated with a two‐week meeting in 2001 in Geneva where the standard was primarily written (73).
As with OHSAS 18001 and ISO 14001, the ILO OHS management system standard has front‐end sections that address scope and context issues, with the meat of the standard contained in Section 3, organized within the following five sections:
Policy
Organizing
Planning and Implementation
Evaluation
Action for Improvement.
A unique feature of the ILO's OHSMS is that contains a model that governments or nation‐state standards developers can follow in the development of OHSMS standards unique to individual countries or industries. This section is titled “A national framework for occupational safety and health management systems.” A schematic of this structure is show in Figure 6.
FIGURE 6 The ILO framework schematic.
Strictly speaking, the ILO OHSMS is not an auditable standard, but rather it is a guideline with recommendations. It contains a mixture of “should” and “shall”‐based clauses that makes auditing difficult. Its use in third‐party certification schemes is not precluded, but its introduction states that its “application” does not require certification.
6.3 ANSI/ASSP Z10
ANSI Z10 is a voluntary consensus standard developed by a diverse group of experts from labor, government, professional organizations, and industry in the United States (15). Its development efforts began in the late 1990s to fill a gap in OHSMS standards applicable to the particular regulatory and labor relation framework in the United States, and to serve as potential US input to any future ISO international standard. To these ends, particular emphasis is given to the areas of MOC, employee participation, and leadership accountability.
ANSI Z10:2005 was developed using and expanding on contemporary national and international standards, guidelines, and practices in place in the early 2000s. It generally followed the traditional ISO management system format in place at that time. The first edition development committee gave attention to Z10's compatibility with quality and EMS standards as well as with principles adopted by the ILO to encourage integration with other business MS. The standard includes (2005 and 2012) appendices with model program and policies intended for easy use by organizations without large OH&S resources.
The 2005 and 2012 versions were written using a two‐column format with the left containing mandatory requirements of the standard and the right containing recommended program elements. This format was used to help address questions that arise in specification standards by providing examples and guidance alongside of required elements.
At the time of this publication, the ANSI/ASSP Z10 standard was in the final stages of a revision process. It is anticipated that it will be published in late 2019, or early 2020.
6.4 OSHA Voluntary Protection Program
The VPP is a government‐based management system approach managed by the OSHA in the United States. Numerous state‐operated OSHA programs have developed state‐operated VPPs. This program contains several components, including the actual VPP approach language and a certification scheme operated by OSHA. The term “VPP approach language” is used instead of “standard” since in OSHA nomenclature, the VPP is not a standard, but in the context of discussing other management system approaches such as ISO 45001, OHSAS 18001, the ILO OHSMS, and ANSI Z10, one can think of VPP as equivalent to an OHSMS standard.
The VPP approach began in California in the late 1980s as the result of regulatory actions at the San Onofre power generating facility. It has evolved to represent the most comprehensive OH&S management system approach within OSHA and encompasses elements of other systems approaches in OSHA, such as the 1989 OSHA OH&S Program Management Guidelines (11), Consultation's SHARP/form 33 (74), the defunct Performance Evaluation Profile (PEP) (75), and the draft OHS program standard (20).
For certification, the OSHA VPP site inspection team verifies OHS program adequacy in the following six areas (5):
1 Management Commitment and Planning
2 Work site Analysis
3 Hazard Prevention and Control
4 Safety and Health Training
5 Employee Involvement in Program Evaluation
6 Annual Evaluation of Safety and Health Program
The site review team balances all available site information, including employee interviews, to determine if systematic management procedures that address hazard assessment, prevention and control are being effectively implemented. The site inspection team's findings are reviewed by OSHA management personnel who, typically were not involved with the on‐site review. This Administrative Review is the last step in the process. Those companies that satisfy the above requirements become VPP “Participants” (76).
The organization's management receives a letter from the Assistant Secretary of Labor congratulating them on being awarded VPP status. Furthermore, these companies are “rewarded” by receiving immunity from programmed OSHA inspections. OSHA may still inspect VPP sites in response to employee complaints, fatalities, significant chemical releases, or catastrophes. Most sites are reevaluated every three years to ensure they are continuing good management practices and following the VPP requirement.
There is a hierarchy of VPP achievement recognition, with the designations Star, Merit, and Demonstration. Sites awarded Star status generally have safety and health programs that are recognized as comprehensive and effective. The Merit designation is provided to those work sites with the potential to be Star but may have some minor health and safety