CHAPTER 10: DOCUMENTATION AND CONTROL OF DOCUMENTS (CLAUSE 4.4.4 AND 4.4.5)
Summary of requirements
1 The OH&S documentation should be as simple, minimum and efficient as possible. It should include the following:
OH&S scope, policy, objectives and targets.
Description of the main elements of the OH&S management system and their interaction.
Procedures and records required by OHSAS 18001 and those determined by the organisation for effective management of their own OH&S processes and risks.
2 An organisation is also required to establish a procedure that defines how it controls (approves, reviews, changes, identifies, disseminates and removes obsolete versions) documents of internal and external origin.
How can these requirements be met by an organisation?
It is best to explain the difference between the two often interchangeably used terms ‘documents’ and ‘records’, before proceeding to the main contents of this chapter.
Documents
Documents provide information, data, policies, procedures or instructions, and could use any medium, such as print or electronic. Some examples of documents are:
- Policies, objectives, targets, programmes, manuals, standard operating procedures, work instructions, process flow charts or plans.
- Photographs, videos, sketches or drawings providing instructions.
- Documents of external nature, such as regulatory requirements or international standards.
- Formats and checklists (when blank).
Records
Records are a special category of documents. They provide evidence, facts or results of actions taken, or tasks performed by an organisation. Some examples of records are:
- Equipment maintenance and inspection records.
- Certification and licences obtained.
- Audit records, such as audit reports and observations.
- Minutes of meetings, such as safety committee meeting, management review meeting.
- Record of training need analysis, training conducted and training effectiveness.
- Record of calibration of measuring devices.
- Record of compliance with regulatory OH&S requirements.
Begin by preparing an OH&S core document, or a manual. This should include the following:
- The ‘scope’ of your organisation’s OH&S management system. Typically, an OH&S management system’s scope will include the core function/activities of the organisation and the location(s) at which these activities are performed.
An example of an organisation’s OH&S management system scope could be:
‘Safe and Sound Inc, located at 108 Esplanade Ave West, Building 310, North Vancouver is engaged in manufacture and sale of single and multi core electrical wires, rods and cables.’
- Description of the main elements of the OH&S management system and how they are interlinked to each other.
- Include, or give reference to, OH&S procedures and other supporting documents that are used in planning, implementing or controlling OH&S activities of the organisation.
Define a procedure that describes how an organisation controls its internal and external documents. The following elements of document control must be included in this procedure:
- Nominate a person to carry out the responsibility for control of OH&S documentation.
- List all internal and external documents that are used in the OH&S management system.
- Describe the review and approval authority for each OH&S document, and ensure all controlled documents are approved by the appropriate authorised persons.
- Define a document numbering system, so that each OH&S document bears a unique number, such as S&S- Procedure-23 or S&S- SOP-12.
- Mention the latest revision status and date on each OH&S document, such as Rev.3 dated 10.3.2012.
- Identify the individuals or locations that ought to receive relevant documentation, and ensure that they receive the latest version of applicable documents.
- The procedure must define how obsolete documents are removed, prevented from unintended use and replaced by latest versions.
- Maintaining an updated list that includes names, reference numbers, revision dates, revision levels, and distribution of all internal and external documents, is an effective way to establish control over OH&S management system documents.
Appendix E describes the documents and procedures required by OHSAS 18001.