Comments Sought on OH&S management system requirements standard.
Press Release Summary:
British Standards Institution (BSI), UK's member body to ISO, submitted proposal for new international standard that would specify requirements for occupational health and safety (OH&S) management system. As U.S. member body to ISO, ANSI invites interested stakeholders to submit comments on said proposal by April 26, 2013. Standard would set down list of requirements for OH&S system to provide organizations with increased control over related risks.
Original Press Release:
ANSI Seeks Comment on Proposed New ISO Standard on Requirements for Occupational Health and Safety Management Systems
The British Standards Institution (BSI), the United Kingdom’s member body to the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), has submitted a proposal for a new international standard that would specify requirements for an occupational health and safety (OH&S) management system. As the U.S. member body to ISO, the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) invites all interested stakeholders to submit comments on the proposal by Friday, April 26, 2013.
According to the proposal, the standard would set down a list of requirements for an OH&S system, with the goal of providing organizations with increased control over OH&S risks, allowing for improved performance in this area. The standard would not establish specific performance criteria for OH&S and would not provide detailed specifications for the design of an OH&S management system. It is expected that the standard would be applicable to any organization seeking to establish, maintain, or improve an OH&S management system. It would not address product safety, environmental impacts, or other health and safety-related subjects.
All comments on this proposal should be sent to Steven Cornish, ANSI senior director for international policy (isot@ansi.org). Feedback received by the April 26 deadline will be reviewed and compiled for the recommended ANSI position and comment, which will then be presented to the ANSI ISO Council for formal approval.
The full proposal filed by BSI is available here. The linked document includes a letter from the International Labour Organization (ILO) regarding the proposed standard, as well as responses to that letter from ISO and BSI.
ANSI has published an explanatory information document outlining the process used to develop U.S. positions on issues and activities under consideration by ISO and IEC. Click here to download the document.
