Do Management System Standards Indicate Superior Performance? Evidence from the OHSAS 18001 Occupational Health and Safety Standard

Millions of companies around the world have adopted management system standards to both convey superior operational performance and to improve their operations. Yet because these standards impose requirements on operational processes and procedures, it is largely unknown whether adopting these standards actually bears any relationship with operational performance. We examine this question in the context of the OHSAS 18001 Occupational Health and Safety Management system standard. Analyzing proprietary certification data from some of the world’s largest certification companies and injury microdata from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, we find that U.S. establishments certified to the OHSAS 18001 standard indeed tend to be safer workplaces. The OHSAS 18001 standard attracts establishments with fewer injury and illness cases than comparable non-adopters (a selection effect), and certification leads to subsequent declines in such cases (a treatment effect). These results provide rare evidence the adoption of a management system standard serves both as a credible indicator of superior operational performance, as well as a means to improve performance