About the Report

Download Report

The report relates to an effort by the U.S. Department of Labor’s (DOL) Chief Evaluation Office (CEO), in collaboration with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), to understand how and why employers adopt voluntary consensus standards for occupational health and safety (OHS) management. This report focuses on the institutions, organizations, and processes that have emerged to support the certification of occupational health and safety management systems (OHSMS), both in the U.S. and globally. Certification to international standards for the management of occupational safety and health (OSH) can signal to stakeholders that the organization has effective processes in place for identifying, managing, and reducing OHS risks in the workplace. This may help such organizations stand out from competitors, attract and retain a superior workforce, and reduce costs associated with poor OHS performance, such as workers’ compensation premiums and injury or illness claims expenses. Regulatory agencies, and stakeholders who may be impacted by regulatory agencies’ work, may also be interested in these findings as they consider and evaluate future OSH policies.

Download this Summary (PDF)

Research Questions

• What does it mean to hold an OHSMS certificate?
• Who issues such certificates and what processes do they follow?
• Who oversees the certification bodies and deems them competent to issue certificates?

Key Takeaways

• Voluntary consensus standards signal to stakeholders that the adopting organizations conform to a set of recognized best practices for OHSMS, and exist at the national and international levels.
• Employers adopting OHSMS have the option to certify their conformance to the management system standards, by contracting with a certification body (sometimes called an auditor).
• Certification bodies follow a rigorous set of procedures when conducting their assessments. Certification audits involve reviews of OHSMS documentation, interviews with management and workers, and physical inspections of the workplace. The intensity of the audit (number of auditor days) is scaled to the complexity of the workplace and number of employees. To maintain certification, organizations must undergo annual surveillance audits and a full recertification audit takes place every three years. Certifications may be suspended or withdrawn if the organization fails to maintain sound OHS risk management practices.
• Accreditation of certification bodies helps ensure that assessors are competent, independent, and free of conflicts of interest. Accreditation bodies operate under principles established through their participation in the International Accreditation Forum. In the U.S., the two main accreditation bodies for OHSMS are the ANSI National Accreditation Board (ANAB) and the International Accreditation Service (IAS).

Citation

Eastern Research Group. (2021). Occupational Health and Safety Management Systems: System Certification and Accreditation. Chief Evaluation Office, U.S. Department of Labor.

Download Report   View Study Profile

The Department of Labor’s (DOL) Chief Evaluation Office (CEO) sponsors independent evaluations and research, primarily conducted by external, third-party contractors in accordance with the Department of Labor Evaluation Policy and CEO’s research development process.