Abstract
Conformity assessment to the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 9001 quality assurance and ISO 14001 environmental management standards create numerous procedural and technical performance issues. Specific challenges include auditor qualification and credentialing concerns, mutual recognition of foreign accreditor findings, as well as intranational and international auditing performance consistency. An ISO 9001/14001-harmonized occupational health and safety management system standard (OHSMS) would likely confront analogous difficulties. The purpose of this research was to evaluate the critical features of a credible ISO 9001/14001-compatible OHSMS assessment instrument, or auditing tool. ISO 9000 series standards, the 14000 series draft international standards, and numerous assessment instruments currently employed in industry have been reviewed. The findings suggest that an OHSMS assessment instrument be: (1) generally applicable in any industry; (2) fashioned for auditors lacking health and safety expertise; and (3) congruent with preexisting ISO system assessment instruments. Future research should be conducted on assessment instrument reliability and validity.