Can I merge Safety, Quality and Environmental as one, and is this effective?

Safety, Quality and Environment are the major concerns of this era. There were different regional standards that existed in the past decade like European followed British Standards (BS), Americans and Japanese have their own standards in order to ensure the safety, quality and environment in construction sectors but from 2010 onward these standards have started to become uniform. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) is working on the development of these standards through its Technical Committees (TC) consisting of all members' representatives. ISO 45001 OHS, 9001 QMS & 14001 EMS standards have been developed by the ISO for safety, quality and environment. These standards are followed by the annexure SL structure having 10 clauses; starting from Scope, Terms & Definitions, Normative References, Context of the Organization, Leadership, Planning, Support, Operations, Performance Evaluation and Improvement. All of these clauses of ISO 45001 OHS, 9001 QMS & 14001 EMS standards can be integrated in order to implement these standards in the construction industry.

With a new structure of standards which have been revised after 2010, now the merging of these ISO 45001 OHS, 9001 QMS & 14001 EMS standards become easy due to annexure SL. As there are 10 clauses of these standards starting from Scope, which has the detail of the applicability of clauses and requirements related to implementation are mentioned through which one can easily identify whether the standard is applicable to the company.

In all developed or developing countries where some legal bodies exist, these bodies have their own requirements related to compliance of employee's safety, environment safety and documentation works. Although ISO 9001, 14001 & 45001 standard is not mandatory in most of the countries, implementation of these requirements in any construction industry is noteworthy to fulfill the requirements of regional regulatory bodies. Especially in UK, Construction Industry Scheme (CIS) requirements along with the health and safety regulations endorsed by the UK regulatory bodies are fulfilled, if any of the company get ISO 9001, 14001 & 45001 certification then regulatory requirement section is the mandatory requirement of these standards so ultimately the CIS and safety regulations are fulfilled. Beside this, a systematic approach of completing the work job with proper documentation also saved the company from any unwanted situations. Construction companies in Europe, US and Gulf region are following the integration approach in order to tackle the regulatory bodies. These requirements provide support in order to expand the business as 21st century customers are showing considerable concern toward the environment and human safety so these requirements also act as a marketing tool for the companies. As per research conducted in the 302 construction companies of Spain; Integration of these QHSE standards have a positive benefit both internally and externally. Internal benefits include the processes of the organization while external benefits include commercial gain in the market [8]. Similar research has been conducted by the British Standard Institute (BSI) in one of the renowned British construction companies; integration of the quality and environment safety in the company leading to the market growth of 34% along with the 5-10 reduction in the cost of project [9].

So, based on the above facts; it is concluded that the integration of safety, quality and environment as one in the construction industry is the smartest way to deal with all interested parties which not only help companies to improve its internal and external processes but also increases the customer satisfaction by helping in the reduction of the cost.