The need to protect workers and improve working conditions has resulted in the increasing adoption of laws and regulations at local European and even global level, aimed at preventing accidents and protecting the workers’ health (physical and mental) regardless of position and work piece.

Although compliance to these rules is an obligation and prerequisite for the functioning of Organizations (licensing operation), in recent years there has been a need for standards that promote the prevention of accidents and the protection of the workers’ health through a system for continuously improving operations of the Organization.

These standards (ELOT 1801 for Greece and OHSAS 18001 internationally) are based on the general principles of standard EN ISO 9001 regarding the documentation control, the responsibilities assignment and resources provision, the internal operations audit and the final system performance evaluation by comparing operating data analysis results with specific goals.

In addition to the above requirements, according to ELOT 1801 & OHSAS 18001, the Occupational Health and Safety management system includes:

• Hazards identification (anything that can harm the health of an employee or visitor or contractor) due to labor factors.
• Risk Assessment. The list of risks should be evaluated with respect to risk. This means that each risk should be assessed by criteria:

1. The probability.
2. The impact – severity if it happens.

• Functional safety procedures.
• The objectives and the programs to achieve them.
• The dealing with emergencies, and
• The recording and management of accidents – near accidents.

Q-CERT, with a team of experienced inspectors, offers accredited certification services for the requirements of these standards.