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    OHSAS 18001

    Also known as: BS OHSAS 18001, BS OHSAS 18001:2007

    Definition

    BSI's occupational health and safety management system specification of 2007, withdrawn and replaced by ISO 45001, with certificate migration ending in 2021.

    Editorial definition: The QHSE Standard, updated 3 October 2026 · https://qhsetech.com/glossary/ohsas-18001

    Scope: The document is withdrawn, so an OHSAS 18001 certificate is no longer current. The sources date the end of certificate migration 12 March 2021, then 30 September 2021 after an IAF extension.

    Example for your evaluation: Search procedures, forms, tender answers and web pages for the old name, and record what replaced each one.

    Sources checked: . Examples are editorial illustrations.

    What BSI, UKAS and the IAF say about OHSAS 18001 and its replacement

    BSI's catalogue lists BS OHSAS 18001:2007, titled Occupational health and safety management systems. Requirements, with BSI as publisher and a publication date of 31 July 2007. Its description says the document sets out requirements for an occupational health and safety management system and applies to organisations of all types and sizes. It was a management system specification, and certification bodies certified organisations against it: UKAS's notice of 29 June 2018 speaks of certification to OHSAS 18001:2007. BSI's catalogue marks the document as withdrawn, with a withdrawal date of 11 March 2018.

    BSI's catalogue notice for BS EN ISO 45001:2023, published 31 August 2023, says that standard is the UK adoption of EN ISO 45001:2023, identical to ISO 45001:2018, and supersedes BS ISO 45001:2018 and BS OHSAS 18001:2007, which it calls withdrawn. UKAS wrote on 29 June 2018 that certification to OHSAS 18001:2007 remained valid until a migration deadline of 12 March 2021, when remaining certificates would become invalid. It cited an IAF resolution requiring accredited certification bodies to migrate by 12 March 2020 and their certified clients by 12 March 2021. In April 2020 the IAF answered that OHSAS 18001 certification could be extended by up to six months, so the end of the transition for migrating accredited certifications from OHSAS 18001:2007 to ISO 45001:2018 became 30 September 2021.

    The dates look like a disagreement but measure different events. 11 March 2018 is the withdrawal date of the document in BSI's catalogue. 12 March 2021 was the original end of certificate migration in UKAS's 2018 notice, written before the extension. 30 September 2021 is the extended end date in the IAF's 2020 answer. The sources opened do not say what happened to a client that missed the deadline, so no consequence is stated here. This is general information, not legal advice or a certification ruling; the body that issued a certificate, and any contract or regulation that names a standard, decide what is accepted.

    Sources opened :

    What an OHSAS 18001 legacy record holds in software

    • The certificate: the standard and edition named, the certification body, the scope, the issue date and the expiry date.
    • The date the organisation moved to ISO 45001:2018, the certificate that replaced the old one and the audit that confirmed the move.
    • The gap assessment or migration plan, with the owner of each change and the date it was closed.
    • Old procedures and forms that still carry the OHSAS 18001 name, marked as superseded with the date and the document that replaced them.
    • Audit reports, nonconformities and management review minutes from the OHSAS years, kept read-only with their original dates.
    • Contracts, tender answers and web pages that still name OHSAS 18001, with a note of who changed each and when.

    BS OHSAS 18001, OHSAS 18001 and ISO 45001

    BS OHSAS 18001:2007 is the name BSI's catalogue uses, and OHSAS 18001 is the short form in common use. ISO 45001:2018 is a different document with a different number, and BS EN ISO 45001:2023 is BSI's entry for its UK adoption. A tender or CV that asks for OHSAS 18001 names the withdrawn document, so the live question is whether the organisation holds a current ISO 45001 certificate.

    A hypothetical example: an old tender answer

    Everything in this case is invented, and it describes no real company. A small fabrication firm is preparing a tender and its coordinator copies last year's answer to the safety certification question. The answer says the firm is certified to OHSAS 18001:2007. The certificate register shows two entries: an OHSAS 18001:2007 certificate marked superseded, and an ISO 45001:2018 certificate issued after a migration audit, with its scope, certification body and expiry date.

    The coordinator corrects the answer and searches the document system for the old name. Three more items turn up: a web page, a supplier questionnaire and an induction slide. Each is changed, and the log records who changed it, when, and which certificate it now cites. One nonconformity from that period is still open, so the coordinator links it to the current process, assigns an owner and sets a due date. Last, the coordinator checks that the current certificate's scope covers both sites named in the tender.

    Common misunderstandings about OHSAS 18001

    • An OHSAS 18001 certificate is not a current certificate. UKAS wrote that remaining certificates based on the 2007 edition become invalid at the migration deadline, and the IAF moved that deadline to 30 September 2021.
    • The dates 11 March 2018, 12 March 2021 and 30 September 2021 are not rival answers. They are the withdrawal of the document in BSI's catalogue, the original certificate deadline and the extended deadline.
    • OHSAS 18001 carried a BS number with BSI as publisher. ISO 45001 is the ISO document that replaced it, and the two are separate texts.
    • Moving to ISO 45001 is not a renaming. UKAS and the IAF describe a migration audit for certified clients, and the sources opened do not list the changes in the requirements, so a gap assessment against the current text is needed.
    • A legacy record is not clutter. Audit findings and procedures from the OHSAS years are evidence of history, and deleting them removes the trail an auditor may follow.

    How OHSAS 18001 relates to other glossary terms

    OHSAS 18001 is now history, so its neighbours are the standard that replaced it and the records that survived the move.

    • ISO 45001: the standard that replaced it and the page to read for current requirements.
    • Integrated management system: how a safety system can share policies and records with other management systems.
    • ISO 19011: guidelines for auditing management systems, the kind of audit that tests a migrated system.
    • Management review: where top management can decide on a migration plan and check its progress.

    Records and evidence that usually exist for an OHSAS 18001 migration

    • The current certificate, with its standard, edition, scope, certification body and dates.
    • The superseded OHSAS 18001:2007 certificate, kept as a dated historic record.
    • The migration plan or gap assessment, with owners and closure dates.
    • The migration audit report and the record of how its findings were closed.
    • A list of every external document that names the old standard, with the change made to each.
    • Management review minutes that record the decision to migrate.

    What a software tool needs to capture for OHSAS 18001 history

    • A certificate register with standard name, edition year, scope, issue date and expiry date as separate fields.
    • Reminders for certificate expiry and surveillance dates.
    • A superseded flag that keeps old procedures readable but stops them appearing as current.
    • A way to link an old finding or action to the current process that replaced it.
    • Read-only retention of OHSAS-era audit records with their original dates.
    • A search that finds documents still naming the withdrawn standard.

    Catalog profiles documenting hazard and OH&S system records

    The list uses the ISO 45001 software rule. It does not show that a product holds a certificate register, superseded-document flags or migration history, so ask to see a legacy record in a demonstration.

    Same rule for every product: tagged “EHS Management”, “Safety Management” or “ISO Management”, with a sourced hazard, risk-assessment, investigation or corrective-action capability in its record, or one the vendor stated to us, labelled as vendor-stated. Documented and conditional capabilities qualify; check the linked scope before treating a module as included.

    Tekmon pays for a sponsored placement (above); its place in this list follows the same rule as every entry. How lists are ordered

    All 40 matching profiles are shown. Documentation review, not hands-on testing or a claim of compliance.

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    Frequently asked questions

    Is OHSAS 18001 still valid?

    No. BSI's catalogue lists BS OHSAS 18001:2007 as withdrawn and says BS EN ISO 45001:2023 supersedes it. Certification had a migration deadline that the IAF extended to 30 September 2021.

    What replaced OHSAS 18001?

    ISO 45001:2018. BSI's catalogue notice says its UK adoption, BS EN ISO 45001:2023, is identical to ISO 45001:2018 and supersedes BS OHSAS 18001:2007.

    Which migration date is right: 2018, March 2021 or September 2021?

    Each is a different event. BSI dates the withdrawal of the document 11 March 2018, UKAS's 2018 notice gave 12 March 2021 for certificates, and the IAF later extended that to 30 September 2021.

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