Recent incident at Bangalore has left people wondering about CSR commitments of many of companies of our times. OHSAS 18001:2007 is the standard which governs Occupation Health and Safety of an organization and its employees. When an organization embraces OHSAS 18001 standard, it mandates establishment of a management system. There are many issues which are required to be addressed while an organization is implementing this standard. While Register of Regulations takes care of legal issues, the emergency prepared plan draws specifics about the response to any emergency situations like Fire, earthquake or for that matter any accident.

OHSAS 18001 is presently voluntary for adoption but looking at its importance, it is quite possible it may be readied for mandatory adoption. The draft CEA regualtion on mandatory adoption of OHSAS 18001 for power plants and substations is expected shortly. This will require power stations to have an effective management HSEMS (Health, safety, Environment management system in place.

Bangalore incident should stir the souls of administrators. If all safety norms had been taken care of and regular mock drills as per HSEMS would have been conducted, then incidents like the one which happened may have been avoided.

We may see, people forgetting the incident soon and getting on with their lives but the best tribute to the departed would be if we can do our bit in ensuring that such incidents do not happen in future. A safety checklist is religiously followed and adhered to.

We all need to be change agent. We should look towards others for “doing” and implementation. Everybody amongst can be a change agent.

Let’s promise each other and let the journey begin right now.

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OHSAS 18001 Certifications, Risk assessments and Safety Audits for Projects