The Challange
Continuous improvement, legal compliance and superior management of internal matters are at the heart of corporate strategy for Cara Partners, a bulk pharmaceutical manufacturer based in Little Island Industrial Estate in County Cork. Cara Partners is a French-German joint venture which manufactures a standardised Extract of Ginkgo Biloba, an active pharmaceutical ingredient (API). In support of its continuous improvement strategy, Cara Partners decided to implement a management system based on the requirements of the OHSAS 18001, international health and safety management standard. The company selected Antaris to provide assistance and support in implementing this highly recognised health and safety management system.
Action Taken
At the beginning of the project, we conducted a baseline evaluation of Cara Partners’ health and safety performance and used it as the basis for the new health and safety management system. The review also helped to identify health and safety legal requirements. An online register of health and safety legislation was developed using Antaris’ software application Pegasus Legal Register. Pegasus was also used to assess the company’s compliance with relevant legislation and to generate an improvement action plan. Cara Partners conducted hazard identification and risk assessments in a wide range of specialist areas, including ATEX, HAZOP, chemical exposure, manual handling, ergonomics, legionella and occupational hygiene. We worked with the company to ensure that the documented assessments met the requirements of the standard. We also developed a health and safety manual which provided a road map to the overall system and references to all documents and records required by the standard. The OHSAS 18001 Management System was further documented, including the OHS Policy, Emergency Plan, Safety Statement, and operational health and safety procedures, based on existing materials where possible. Objectives and targets were documented in a Health and Safety Management Programme, linked to the risk assessment programme and the register of legislation. We carried out a comprehensive pre-assessment audit of the management system and provided support in the corrective and preventive action process.
The Results
As a result of this successful cooperation between Cara Partners and Antaris, the company achieved certification to the OHSAS 18001 in early 2009. Implementation of the certified management system has helped Cara Partners to deliver improvements in health and safety performance and to increase the levels of employees’ involvement in the improvement process. We continue to assist the company in maintaining their health and safety management system as required. This ensures a high level of efficiency due to the familiarity with the system in place and flexibility in the level of involvement.
‘ESB has operations in a large number of countries worldwide. As we strive towards our goals of zero injuries to staff and minimising our impact on the environment we are also aware of the need to comply with the varying legal obligations that apply to these matters in different jurisdictions. Keeping abreast of evolving relevant legislation is a critical challenge for our company. I have found that the TMS Register of Legislation and Compliance Tool provides me with a tailored and cost-effective means of meeting this need and gives me the assurance that we are up to date regarding our statutory safety and environmental obligations’
Owen Wilson, Manager Group Health, Safety and Environment, ESB
‘We use Antaris to help us comply with the vast regulations regarding health and safety in the workplace. In addition to this Antaris help us with different aspects of our management systems, including audits, inspections and procedures. The Pegasus on-line compliance tool is excellent and the people are very knowledgeable.’
Richard Meaney, Health & Safety Officer, Cara Partners.
