The British Standards Institution (BSI), the United Kingdom’s member body to the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), has submitted a proposal for a new international standard that would specify requirements for an occupational health and safety (OH&S) management system. As the U.S. member body to ISO, the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) invites all interested stakeholders to submit comments on the proposal by Friday, April 26, 2013.

According to the proposal, the standard would set down a list of requirements for an OH&S system, with the goal of providing organizations with increased control over OH&S risks, allowing for improved performance in this area. The standard would not establish specific performance criteria for OH&S and would not provide detailed specifications for the design of an OH&S management system. It is expected that the standard would be applicable to any organization seeking to establish, maintain, or improve an OH&S management system. It would not address product safety, environmental impacts, or other health and safety-related subjects.

All comments on this proposal should be sent to Steven Cornish, ANSI senior director for international policy ([email protected]). Feedback received by the April 26 deadline will be reviewed and compiled for the recommended ANSI position and comment, which will then be presented to the ANSI ISO Council for formal approval.

The full proposal filed by BSI is available here. The linked document includes a letter from the International Labour Organization (ILO) regarding the proposed standard, as well as responses to that letter from ISO and BSI.

Source: ANSI