Guidelines on occupational safety and health management systems (ILO-OSH 2001)

The guidelines may be applied on two levels - national and organizational. At the national level, they provide for the establishment of a national framework for occupational safety and health (OSH) management systems, preferably supported by national laws and regulations. They also provide precise information on developing voluntary arrangements to strengthen compliance with regulations and standards, which, in turn, lead to continual improvement of OSH performance.

At the organizational level, the Guidelines encourage the integration of OSH management system elements as an important component of overall policy and management arrangements. Organizations, employers, owners, managerial staff, workers and their representatives are motivated in applying appropriate OSH management principles and methods to improve OSH performance.

'Today, technological progress and intense competitive pressures bring rapid change in working conditions, work processes and organization. Legislation is essential but insufficient on its own to address these changes or to keep pace with new hazards and risks. Organizations must also be able to tackle occupational safety and health challenges continuously and to build effective responses into dynamic management strategies. These Guidelines on occupational safety and health management systems will support this effort. The Guidelines were prepared on the basis of a broad-based approach involving the ILO and its tripartite constituents and other stakeholders. They have also been shaped by internationally agreed occupational safety and health principles as defined in relevant international labour standards. Consequently, they provide a unique and powerful instrument for the development of a sustainable safety culture within enterprises and beyond. Workers, organizations, safety and health systems and the environment all stand to benefit.' - Mr Juan Somavia, ILO Director-General