Diagnosis of poor safety culture as a major shortcoming in OHSAS 18001-certifed companies

The evaluation of safety performance in occupational health and safety assessment series
(OHSAS) 18001-certifed companies provides useful information about the quality of the management system. A certifed organization should employ an adequate level of safety management and
a positive safety culture to achieve a satisfactory safety performance. The present study conducted
in six manufacturing companies: three OHSAS 18001-certifed, and three non-certifed to assess
occupational health and safety (OHS) as well as OHSAS 18001 practices. The certifed companies
had a better OHS practices compared with the non-certifed companies. The certifed companies
slightly differed in OHS and OHSAS 18001 practices and one of the certifed companies had the
highest activity rates for both practices. The results indicated that the implemented management
systems have not developed and been maintained appropriately in the certifed companies. The indepth analysis of the collected evidence revealed shortcomings in safety culture improvement in the
certifed companies. This study highlights the importance of safety culture to continuously improve
the quality of OHSAS 18001 and to properly perform OHS/OHSAS 18001 practices in the certifed
companies