1. OHS Certification as Tool and Strategy in Labour Inspection A project funded by the Nordic Council of Ministers Kåre Hendriksen Master of Environmental Management Personal background: OHS research OHS consultant Former lead assessor at DANAK – the national Danish accreditation body a.o. for OHS certification

2. 2DTU Management, Danmarks Tekniske Universitet Project focus The interaction between legislation and OHS certification The validity of OHS certificates The project is manly based on dialogue with stakeholders Background Experiences shows that OHS management systems and the certification process can contribute to increase OHS performance in proactive organizations –generally based on single or few voluntary companies Since 2001 certified organizations in Denmark are by order exempt from initial inspection – caused by the expectation that they has a high OHS performance

3. 3DTU Management, Danmarks Tekniske Universitet Main challenges in OHS certification Increasing public skepticism and suspicion Lack of transparency in the certification process and in the basis for issuing a certificate (ISO 17021) Many cases of non compliance with the legislation and lack of consequences Does not ensure proactive performance and/or continuous improvements Often reduced audit time and/or lack of competences in the audit team – especially regarding ‘soft issues’ as psychological OHS

4. 4DTU Management, Danmarks Tekniske Universitet OHS certification regime The OHSAS 18001 standard is defined by an exclusive self-appointed group that pay for their participation – which primarily includes certifying and accrediting agencies, the industry’s interest organizations, and to a less extent OHS professionals. No explicit requirement for OHS performance besides complying with relevant national legislation – thereby incomparable across national frontiers. Refers indirectly to the national OHS concept – but leaves it to organization management to choose which elements it should be evaluated in relation to. Almost all requirements are cowered by the Nordic legislation

5. 5DTU Management, Danmarks Tekniske Universitet Denmark October 2009 355 certificates covering app. 2.200 sites

6. 6DTU Management, Danmarks Tekniske Universitet Project recommendations OHS management systems and certification is a recommendable tool for companies to improve their management focus on OHS It is not recommendable to exempt certified companies from initial inspection or random check There is a need for guidelines to OHSAS 18001 referring to the Nordic OHS context and regulation framework The guidelines should be developed in dialogue with all relevant stakeholders Thank you