ISO 45001: Occupational Health and Safety Management Systems

ISO 45001 will enter the Approval Stage in November 2017 after several years of reviews and enhancements to the proposal. After an initial set back due to enormous interest and involvement by ISO member countries, the expected publication date is now set at March 2018. The ISO 45001 standard regarding Occupational Health and Safety Management Systems - Requirements will serve as an add-on to existing standards such as ISO 14001 and ISO 9001. It takes various national and international labor standards into account.

Frequently Asked Quesitons

•  What is ISO 45001?

  • ISO 45001 is the international standard for Occupational Health and Safety (OH&S) Management Systems, published by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) in 2018. It provides a framework for organizations to proactively manage workplace safety risks and improve health and safety performance.

•  What replaced OHSAS 18001?

  • ISO 45001 replaced OHSAS 18001, the former British Standards Institute occupational health and safety standard. Organizations that were certified to OHSAS 18001 were required to transition to ISO 45001 by a specific migration deadline. ISO 45001 is broader and more aligned with other ISO management system standards.

•  What is unique about ISO 45001 compared to other safety standards?

  • ISO 45001 places a particularly strong emphasis on worker participation and top-level leadership commitment. It integrates OH&S management into the organization's strategic context, requires a thorough understanding of internal and external factors affecting safety, and promotes a proactive — rather than reactive — approach to hazard management.

• What is the role of employee participation in ISO 45001?

  • ISO 45001 mandates meaningful worker participation in developing, implementing, and reviewing the OH&S management system. Employees must be able to report hazards, near misses, and unsafe conditions without fear of reprisal — and their input must be actively considered in safety decisions.

• Do you have to be certified to benefit from ISO 45001?

  • No. Many organizations use ISO 45001 as a reference framework to improve their EHS programs without pursuing formal third-party certification. The standard's structured approach to risk management, worker engagement, and continual improvement is valuable regardless of certification status.

• How does ISO 45001 relate to ISO 9001 and ISO 14001?

  • ISO 45001 follows the same High-Level Structure (HLS) as ISO 9001 (Quality Management) and ISO 14001 (Environmental Management). This makes it much easier for organizations to integrate all three management systems into a single, unified framework — reducing duplication and administrative burden.

Companies are still allowed to use and recertify using OHSAS 18001:2007 throughout mid-2018. When not due for recertification before publication of ISO 45001, now would be the best time to start implementing according to this new standard. This will lead to enhanced acceptance, lower overall costs, and above all, improved safety.

ISO 45001 will be intended to provide organizations with a framework to proactively improve health and safety performance in order to prevent workplace injuries. The standard can be integrated with an organization’s management process which will help streamline various health and safety operations. One major, new component in the ISO 45001 framework is employee participation. Since some of the people working in high risk environments are usually the subject matter experts, ISO 45001 will ensure that they are involved in the implementation and maintenance of a proper ehs management system. This will allow them to safely manage and prevent risk. 

One of the discussion points for ISO 45001 that caused the delay was to include improvements to the Hazard Identification and Risk Assessment framework. It now recommends that workers should be able to immediately report and address any situation that has an imminent risk of causing injury or illness without the risk of being penalized. This already is a common practice in most of the industry, but since it's part of the standard, it enforces contractors to provide these instructions to their employees as well.Besides improving employee involvement and awareness with regard to safety, ISO 45001 will also encourage organizations to develop plans in order to eliminate occupational incidents. In terms of personnel competencies, the focus will likely shift from ‘just’ training to proving proficiency. One example of a tool that can be used to prevent workplace incidents is safety observation cards. With these cards, employees can flag unsafe operations and talk about them in team meetings. Compliance tasks also play a key role in the effort to achieve a safe and healthy work environment.

Click here for more information on the ISO 45001 standard. 

This post was previously published on March 11, 2016. Changes were made to reflect the latest ISO 45001 updates.