An OHSAS training course can further your career and improve health and safety in your business.

The health and safety management system must have clear boundaries, goals, be documented clearly and be maintained regularly. A way of conforming with these regulations is to use the OHSAS 18000 model.

The OHSAS 18000 model is accredited and certified by the International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO). The standards are revised every few years to keep them up-to-date and maximise their efficacy in maintaining good occupational health and safety. Therefore regular training is suggested to keep up to date with the latest developments.

The goals of the OHSAS 18000 model are:
1. To enable businesses to manage health and safety risk effectively - minimising risk to employees.
2. To enable business to be more efficient in their work by observing good health and safety practices.
3. To enable companies to demonstrate a competitive health and safety advantage.
4. To minimise any compensation and insurance premiums paid out for by the employer, relating to health and safety issues, by aiming to avoid these issues.

The OHSAS 18000 health and safety assessment series is bases on the “plan-do-check-act" model. Which means employers are asked to assess any health and safety issues there may be. Then, the next step is decide what your health and safety system will cover and put into practice any procedures. The final step is to check that these are working by reviewing and documenting these on a regular basis. This is usually know as auditing and can be done both internally and by external auditors.

There are two parts to the OHSAS 18000 system. OHSAS 18001 is the specification or plan of the system and 18002 which is the implementation guidelines. The 18001 part is the part which is auditable and so most of the OHSAS training available is focused around this.

There are a number of OHSAS training courses and picking the right one for your business, largely depends on which part of the process you want to focus on and how much experience the candidate already has. Many OHSAS training courses require some prior experience or knowledge of the system. Before you book, it is best to check with the provider that you have the correct level of experience to enrol on the course. 

One of the OHSAS training courses available includes: Implementing OHSAS 18001. These are short courses, usually 1 or 2 days in duration. They provide an introduction and how to start up the system. There are also shorter ‘understanding’ courses available. These are introductory courses and are aimed at candidates who are involved in running the system, but who are not solely responsible for setting up or auditing it.

The most popular of all the OHSAS training courses are the auditor courses. These are offered at two levels - internal auditor and lead auditor. The internal auditor course is designed for those who monitor and review the OHSAS system within a company. By contrast the lead auditor is designed for those completing external audits, those in-company who are responsible for the OHSAS 18001 certification and those who wish to qualify as a registered IRCA OHSAS auditor.