OHSAS 18001 contribution to real and formal safety elements in safety management system in manufacturing Õ

The current paper examines safety management systems in the Estonian manufacturing industry. The aim of this research is to assess via safety audit, to what extent OHSAS18001 contributes to real and formal safety elements of SMS in manufacturing companies. In 2014, eight OHSAS 18001-certified organisations and eight non-certified Estonian enterprises from different branches of manufacturing were interviewed and assessed using MISHA method. The results show via statistical analysis that OHSAS 18001 has a significant impact on formal safety, real safety and combined safety elements. It can be also concluded that the OHSAS 18001 certification facilitates companies’ commitment to health and safety activities and leads to dealing with additional topics promoting workplace health and safety. Therefore, OHSAS 18001 can be seen as a strategic unit for improving safety performance. However, after examining three types of companies, we can conclude that a safety management system can be effectively implemented also without possessing the OHSAS 18001 certification, but in the Estonian economy market it usually requires affiliation with a larger corporation or concern. Based on the analysis, a conceptual model is created which helps the company reallocate the resources in a way that all possible safety elements will be covered.