Certification criteria for OH&S Management Systems Foundation Training Course
Occupational Health & Safety Management Systems Foundation Training Course CONTENTS 1. INTRODUCTION 2. LEARNING OBJECTIVES 3. ENABLING OBJECTIVES 4. TRAINING METHODS 5. COURSE CONTENT 6. COURSE DURATION 7. TUTORS AND STUDENTS 8. VARIATIONS 9. STUDENT ASSESSMENT 10. ADVERTISING AND PROMOTIONAL MATERIAL Glossary Please read this document conjunction with IRCA/2000; Approval Requirements for Organizations Providing Certificated Auditor Training. Copyright IRCA - 2007 All right reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means; electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior permission of the CQI International Register of Certificated Auditors (IRCA). Page 1 IRCA/2121/07/2, Aug 07
1. INTRODUCTION 1.1 We, the International Register of Certificated Auditors (IRCA), have developed this document to help you, the approved Training Organization, achieve certification of your Occupational Health & Safety Management Systems Foundation training course. 1.2 Before you begin designing an Occupational Health & Safety Management Systems Foundation training course to meet the requirements of this document you should consider the following: 1.2.1 OHSAS 18001 provides industry with requirements for managing organization s occupational health and safety management systems for improving health risks and safety risks resulting from business operation. The aim of the Occupational Health & Safety Management Systems Foundation training course is designed to provide students with an overview of the purpose and requirements of OHSAS 18001 (or acceptable equivalent) with OHSAS 18002 guidance as a tool for managing these risks. 1.2.2 These course criteria are based on OHSAS 18001 and OHSAS 18002. However, we recognize that a number of OH&S management systems specifications exist and your course may be based on an equivalent acceptable to us. If you wish to base your course on an alternative standard/specification this must be agreed with IRCA in advance. 1.2.3 This course may be valuable as preparation for students planning to complete other occupational health & safety-based training courses, such as the IRCA/2020 OH&S MS Auditor/ Lead Auditor training course, the IRCA/2010 OH&S MS Auditor Conversion training course or the IRCA/2120 Internal OH&S MS Auditor training course, and useful as an introduction for anyone involved in the development, implementation and management of a OHSAS 18001 occupational health & safety management system. 1.2.4 This course does not address the skills required to audit an OH&S management system. Where students require both knowledge of an occupational health & safety management system standard/specification and audit skills, this Foundation course can be run concurrently or independently with the IRCA/2120 Internal OH&S MS Auditor training course, or students may benefit from taking the IRCA/2020 OH&S MS Auditor/Lead Auditor training course. Successful completion of an IRCA certified Occupational Health & Safety Management Systems Foundation Course will, in itself, NOT satisfy the training requirements for IRCA certification to any grade of Occupational Health & Safety (OH&S) Management System auditor. In addition, successful completion of an IRCA/2120 OH&S management systems internal auditor training course will satisfy the training requirements for OH&S internal auditor certification. Page 2 IRCA/2121/07/2, Aug 07
Successful completion of an IRCA/2020 OH&S management systems auditor/lead auditor training course will satisfy the training requirements for the IRCA/502 OH&S auditor certification scheme. 1.2.5 Students are not expected to have knowledge of auditing, OH&S management systems or OHSAS 18001, OHSAS 18002 before attending this course. 1.2.6 Your training course must be designed and delivered in accordance with the criteria in this document, although you may exercise flexibility in the inclusion of additional learning objectives, additional material, and in the structure and selection of specific training methods used during your course. 1.2.7 Training methods. This course may be designed as follows :- a) Classroom based training b) Structured self-study e-learning, correspondence training 1.3 Many of the certification requirements common to all courses are detailed in IRCA/2000; Approval Requirements for Organizations Providing Certified Auditor Training. These general course requirements are in addition to the requirements of IRCA/2121 and are mandatory. It is essential, therefore, that you are familiar with the requirements of IRCA/2000. 2. LEARNING OBJECTIVES Learning Objectives describe in outline what students will be able to do by the end of this course. By the end of this course students will be able to: 2.1 Describe the purpose of an occupational health & safety (OH&S) management system and explain the legislative framework relevant to such an OH&S management system. 2.2 Explain the purpose and intent of OHSAS 18001 and OHSAS 18002. 2.3 Describe the OHSAS 18001 requirements. 3. ENABLING OBJECTIVES For students to achieve the overall Learning Objectives they will need to develop specific areas of knowledge. These are specified below as Enabling Objectives and can be thought of as steps to the achievement of the Learning Objectives. By the end of the course students will be able to: 3.1 Describe the purpose of an OH&S MS and explain the legislative framework relevant to an OH&S MS. Page 3 IRCA/2121/07/2, Aug 07
3.1.1 Describe the purpose of an OH&S management system in managing health risks and safety risks resulting from the business operation (i.e. the effective implementation and continual improvement of OH&S management systems, and the anticipation and prevention of circumstances that may result in occupational incidents, hazards, damage, injury or ill health). 3.1.2 Outline the concept of and approaches to OH&S risk management. 3.1.3 Summarise relevant national and local OH&S legislation in the context of the development of modern OH&S legislation, based on the principles of risk assessment and self-regulation. 3.2 Explain the purpose and intent of the OHSAS 18001 and OHSAS 18002. 3.2.1 Explain the purpose of the OHSAS 18001 specification and OHSAS 18002 (guidelines), how they interrelate and the benefits to organizations of using such an OH&S management system specification. 3.2.2 Outline the content of OHSAS 18001 and OHSAS 18002. 3.2.3 Describe, with reference to the Plan, Do, Check, Act model (the OHSAS 18001 elements of successful OH&S management ), the structure and scope of OHSAS 18001. 3.3 Describe the OHSAS 18001 requirements. 3.3.1 Explain key OHSAS 18001 Terms and Definitions. 3.3.2 For each numbered 1 clause of OHSAS 18001: a) Explain the intent of the requirement. b) Suggest possible ways in which organizations might satisfy the requirement. 3.3.3 Determine conformance of a management system to OHSAS 18001 requirements. 4. TRAINING METHODS 4.1 General You may deliver this course in a classroom or as a self-study course. Your course can be presented as a single, complete learning event, or can be broken into discrete elements that collectively cover all the Learning and Enabling Objectives. The following requirements apply to all sections of the training course, regardless of media and method of delivery: 1 Numbered clauses: coverage can be limited to the main requirements, e.g. 4.5.2 rather than the detailed sub requirements, e.g 4.5.2.1 etc. Page 4 IRCA/2121/07/2, Aug 07
4.1.1 Training must be highly participative to allow all students to apply new knowledge and enhance their learning, and so the training methods you select should involve and engage students throughout the duration of your course. 4.1.2 Each student must participate in practical, interactive activities for a minimum of 40% of your course duration. 4.1.3 You must build methods into your course for students to assess their achievement of the Learning and Enabling Objectives and for tutors to provide timely feedback and coaching to students. 4.1.4 Where your course is not delivered as a single, complete learning event, you must make appropriate arrangements to ensure continuity of learning, including use of summaries and learning reviews. 4.2 Self-study Self-study may be used for the full training course, or to supplement classroom training. 4.2.1 Your self-study materials must be designed around a clearly structured learning process with: a) Input (theory). b) Examples. c) Exercises and tests to provide comprehensive coverage of the relevant learning and enabling objectives. d) Feedback/self-assessment on exercises and tests where relevant, to ensure students can self-assess their understanding and achievement of the Learning Objectives and identify areas requiring further work. Simply providing students with a set of reading materials will not be acceptable. 4.2.2 Your self-study course materials must be clearly presented and structured for ease of use, with appropriate navigational aids. You must make the following clear to students to help them manage their learning: a) The Learning Objectives for the overall self-study element of your course. b) The Learning Objectives for each section within your course. c) The structure and suggested or intended sequence of the materials. d) Instructions for the students use of the materials, including realistic timescales. e) How, when and how often students may contact tutors for help, guidance and feedback. Page 5 IRCA/2121/07/2, Aug 07
4.2.3 You must ensure that each student has timely access to a course tutor to answer questions and queries. 4.2.4 Your course must include methods for students to assess their learning and to seek timely feedback and coaching from their tutor(s). 4.3 Classroom Training 4.3.1 You must include session plans (i.e. documented outlines of the training/learning process) for your tutors for each individual training session. These must specify: a) Learning and Enabling Objectives for the session. b) Duration of the session. c) The type of the activity and training method to be used. d) Organizational arrangements, including tutor and student briefing details and tutor:student ratios. e) Deliverables required from students for practical sessions. f) Materials, exercises and equipment required to run the session. g) How your tutors must manage any elements of flexibility designed into the course. Any deviations from your course timings must be managed to ensure that all Learning Objectives are adequately covered and that students are kept informed of any changes. h) Knowledge-based sessions may be tutor led, but your course must allow interaction with students, so that tutors can test learning and students can clarify their understanding, as required. 5. COURSE CONTENT 5.1 At the beginning of your course you must provide the students with a description of the Learning Objectives, course structure, format, their responsibilities, student assessment processes and the assessment criteria. Your course must cover all aspects defined in clause 2, Learning Objectives, and clause 3, Enabling Objectives. 5.2 Your course must include local legislation and requirements as appropriate for each country in which your course is presented. 5.3 Your course must include a description of the role of IRCA, the benefits of certification as an IRCA OH&S Management Systems auditor, including brief details of the IRCA OH&S Management Systems auditor certification scheme and how to contact IRCA. Web-based courses may include a link to the IRCA website www.irca.org. Page 6 IRCA/2121/07/2, Aug 07
6. COURSE DURATION 6.1 Where your course is delivered through self-study methods: a) Your course must be designed so that students can realistically complete all elements of the course within 20 hours. b) Students must complete your course within 12 weeks. 6.2 Where your course is delivered though classroom-based training: a) The minimum course time is 7 hours over 1 day when there are 20 students and one tutor (the method for calculating course duration is described in IRCA/2000). However, we recognise that it is possible to cover the Learning and Enabling Objectives in a shorter time when there are fewer students or a second tutor and you may build this flexibility into your course programme. (In determining the overall duration of the class-room based element appropriate you must give consideration to the training methods to be used, the need to demonstrate adequate coverage of all Learning and Enabling Objectives and time required to give feedback to each student. Session duration must be documented and may include variations to cater for different numbers of delegates.) Regardless of training methods and delegate numbers, it is unlikely that the requirements of these IRCA criteria can be achieved where the overall duration is less than 6 hours b) Your course may be delivered as a series of different elements at different times (e.g. as a part-time course), but all students must complete all elements of your course within a 4-week period in order to successfully complete your course. c) Where classroom training is delivered through a virtual classroom rather than a real classroom, the duration must be increased as necessary to meet the Learning Objectives and to ensure that the requirements for training methods in clause 4 are met. 6.3 If you present your course through interpreters, the duration must be increased as necessary to achieve the Learning Objectives. 7. TUTORS AND STUDENTS 7.1 Tutors For this course tutors must demonstrate competence in the two key areas: 7.1.1 Training; by satisfying the Tutor requirements specified in IRCA/2000. 7.1.2 OHSAS 18001; by understanding and having experience working with OHSAS 18001 and OHSAS 18002. 7.2 Self-Study 7.2.1 You must provide sufficient tutor resource to ensure timely support for students undertaking self-study. Page 7 IRCA/2121/07/2, Aug 07
7.2.2 At the beginning of your course you must inform students how and when they may seek tutor support and how and when you will provide a response. 7.3 Classroom Training 7.3.1 Student numbers: a) The maximum number of students per course is 20. b) The minimum number of students per course is 4. 7.3.2 You must run your course with at least one tutor, who must be present for the full duration of your course. 7.3.3 You must specify the tutor:student ratio for your course and you must ensure that the required number of tutors is available. You will be required to demonstrate how your course has been designed to accommodate these criteria within your defined tutor:student ratio. 8 VARIATIONS 8.1 We will consider requests for variations to any of these criteria, or in respect of any special circumstances. In this situation you should submit a written request to us immediately the requirement for the variation becomes apparent. 8.2 We will consider the following when evaluating any request for variation: 8.2.1 Reasons for the requested variation. 8.2.2 Proposed modifications to the training. 8.2.3 The impact on the learning and assessment processes and how this will be managed. 9 STUDENT ASSESSMENT 9.1 In order to satisfactorily complete your course each student must complete all elements of your course, covering all Learning and Enabling Objectives. 9.1.1 You must give each student feedback on his or her achievement of the Enabling and Learning Objectives during your course and provide, where practical, the opportunity to improve. 9.1.2 For self-study courses or where student learning is conducted remotely (e.g. on the Internet), you must: a) Record each student s completion of each section of your course. Page 8 IRCA/2121/07/2, Aug 07
b) Verify, as far as is practically possible, that the student completing each section of your course is the registered student. 10. ADVERTISING AND PROMOTIONAL MATERIAL 10.1 Your training course advertising and promotional material must not state or imply that satisfactory completion of this course fulfils the complete training requirements for certification to any grade of OH&S Management Systems auditor. GLOSSARY Classroom Self-study The environment where students can interact with each other and with the tutor, in real time. This can either be a real classroom or training room, or a virtual classroom supported by appropriate software. Arrangements by which students can work alone through course materials. Self-study materials can be in any appropriate media, including hard copy text, e-learning or other electronic media, video, audio tape etc. Page 9 IRCA/2121/07/2, Aug 07