ABSTRACT
The safety and health of the workplace is a decisive factor in making an organization function effectively. An emphatic worldwide endeavor is under way, applying a management framework, in order to implement cost-effective occupational health and safety (OHS) and assist governments and employer and employe representatives to better target their priorities in prevention of workplace injuries and diseases (Frick, Jensen, Quinlan, & Wilthagen, 2000). Revolving around the families of management standards, such as ISO 9001:2000 and ISO 14001:1996, 2004 the systems approach has drawn attention among the standards organizations, accreditation bodies, and the national regulatory agencies in formalizing, implementing, and evaluating OHS management systems (OHSMS). Several OHSMS frameworks have been proposed, aiming at building a documented approach to sustainable change and OHS improvement in the enterprises (International Occupational Hygiene Association [IOHA], 1998). Therefore, by conforming to an OHSMS, the organization can make visible its business objectives of quality management (Kara, 1996; Nag, 2002). This contribution elucidates the key elements of OHSMS and the issues surrounding the development of the OHSMS models, outlines the key documentation and implementation requirement, and certification of the management system, and briefly examines the global acceptance and challenges of the OHS programs and systems in the context of diverse national initiatives.
