by Rukhsana Zulfiqar

Created on: June 18, 2010

According to International Labor Organization (ILO); “Occupational Health and Safety is the promotion and maintenance of the highest degree of physical, mental and social well-being of workers in all occupations.” (ILO, 2009) It is a cross-disciplinary area concerned with protecting the safety, health and welfare of people engaged in work or employment. The goal of all occupational health and safety programs is “to foster a safe work environment.” (Oak Ridge National Laboratory, 2009) Workers all over the world daily face hazards of gases, dust, noise, vibration, chemicals and extreme temperatures. Some of the employers are not concerned about the safety of their workers. As a result of which, numerous accidents occur to workers at their workplaces. In the modern era, technology is changing continuously. Most of the employers do not have knowledge to manage occupational health and safety of their employees in compliance to the modern technology. 

An occupational accident or illness can cause direct and indirect cost to the workers, their families and the employers. “250 million occupational accidents occur every year worldwide. Out of these, 335,000 of these accidents are fatal.” (ILO, 2009) These accidents occur most in developing countries than the industrialized ones due to lack of Occupational Health and Safety Programs. According to Walters and Lamm; “medium-sized and large businesses have been able to keep abreast with the changes in OHS law, while small businesses are unable to do so.” (Walter, Lamm, 2003) This is due to low management and training skills, lack of resources and dependency on large businesses.

According to the Occupational Health and Safety Management Systems Guidelines presented by New South Whale (NSW) Government; “A managed systems approach is considered the most effective way to improve OHS performance with any enterprise and for all construction industry participants to maintain high OHS management standards.” (NSW Government, 2004) A standardized OHS management system is necessary in order to improve Occupational Health and Safety conditions in an organization. Hence, an Occupational Health and Safety Management system can be defined as; “An OHS Management System contains a corporate system, project OHS management plan, site-specific safety management plan and safe work method statements.” (NSW Government, 2004) OHS Management System is a multi-purpose

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