With the process of global economic integration, the trend towards integrated safety and health standards is also very evident. The Uruguay Round negotiation agreement of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) requires that countries should not create non-tariff trade barriers and unfair competition due to differences in regulations and standards, and should adopt international standards as much as possible. Industrialized countries such as the United States and Europe demand "fair competition". This is because the differences in safety and health conditions among countries put developed countries at a disadvantage in cost price and trade competition, and the "unfairness" caused by insufficient investment in improving labor conditions in developing countries to reduce their production costs is unacceptable. Developed countries believe that human rights, environmental protection, and labor conditions should be included in the scope of international trade, and workers' rights and safety and health should be linked to economic issues (i.e. the sensational so-called "social clause").

Both North America and Europe have made provisions in free trade zone agreements: only countries and regions that adopt the same environmental and occupational safety and health standards can participate in international trade activities in the trade zone. To counter regions and countries that use reducing environmental and labor protection inputs (low standards) as a means of trade competition, and to impose sanctions and condemnation on countries and regions with poor environmental protection and occupational safety and health conditions that do not take measures to improve them.

The issue of labor standards is a difficult problem for the WTO. In the Uruguay Round negotiations, it was pointed out that while international trade liberalization should be carried out, unified international labor standards should be established in trade agreements, and trade restrictions should be imposed on countries that do not meet international standards; The Singapore Declaration (1996) proposed to explicitly include "core labor standards" as a new topic among the 23 contents of the declaration; At the Seattle Conference (1999), it was stated that developed countries insist on linking labor standards to trade, claiming that this concerns the credibility of the WTO.

Developing countries are concerned that developed countries may use this as a tool for trade protectionism and strongly oppose the inclusion of labor standards in trade negotiations. At the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development in Bangkok (2000), labor standards and trade barriers once again became one of the focal points of the conference.

The development trend of occupational safety and health management (OHSMS) is as follows:

International Trends:

In 1996, the UK issued the national standard BS8800 "OHSMS Guidelines";

The American Industrial Health Association has developed guidance documents on OHSMS;

In 1997, Australia/New Zealand proposed a draft of the General Guidelines for OHSMS Principles, Systems, and Supporting Technologies;

The Japan Industrial Health Association has proposed the "OHSMS Guidelines";

The Norwegian Classification Society has developed the OHSMS certification standard;

Regional standards: 13 national standard organizations and international certification bodies have issued OHSAS18001 "Occupational Safety and Health Management System - Specification" and OHSAS18002 "Occupational Safety and Health Management System - OHSAS18001 Implementation Guidelines"

Considering the relevance of quality management, environmental management, and occupational safety and health management, ISO expects to develop the ISO18000 standard;

ISO organized an international seminar in September 1996 to discuss whether to develop OHSMS standards, but no consensus was reached on this matter;

On April 18, 2000, only 59% of countries agreed to establish ISO OHSMS18001.

Since 1998, an international occupational safety and health management system document has been developed, and two meetings have been held specifically to form an ILO OHSMS guideline;

After consultation with ISO, a report on promoting OHSMS work in 2000 was published in February 2001, making OHSMS an international action;

The OHSMS standards and guidelines of ILO were promulgated in June 2001.

Domestic dynamics:

In 1996, participated in the International Symposium on OHSMS Standards organized by ISO, and in 1997, China National Petroleum Corporation formulated HSE industry standards;

In 1998, CSSTLP1001:1998 "Specification and Guidelines for the Use of Occupational Safety and Health Management Systems" was released, and in October 1999, the "Trial Standards for Occupational Safety and Health Management Systems" were released;

In 2000, the National OHSMS Certification Guidance Committee, Institutional Accreditation Committee, and Personnel Registration Committee were established;

On December 20, 2001, the National Economic and Trade Commission issued Announcement No. 30 of 2001: "Guiding Opinions on the Issuance of Occupational Safety and Health Management Systems and Audit Standards for Occupational Safety and Health Management Systems".