An occupational health and safety management system (OHSMS) provides a framework for managing your occupational health and safety responsibilities so they become more efficient and more integrated into overall business operations. With no clear international choice, a race to produce a primary occupational health and safety management system has developed in recent years. This has led to confusion. Many potential OHSMS implementers ask: What are the options and how do they differ? Others wonder if ISO, the International Organization for Standardization, will choose a standard as the framework for a generic ISO OHSMS.
At the most recent vote in 2000, ISO members voted 29 in favor and 20 against making BS 8800 an ISO standard. Requiring two-thirds of members in favor to pass, the attempt fell four votes short. Another vote is not currently scheduled, but industry predictions see a third attempt successfully passing.