ISO 45001

An Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) Management System is a key part of an organization's risk management strategy. OHS certification enables your organization to:

• To protect its workforce and other persons under its control
• To comply with legal requirements
• To promote continuous improvement

ISO 45001:2018 is the new international standard for OHS. Although similar to OHSAS 18001, the new ISO 45001:2018 standard adopts the Annex SL framework for all new and revised ISO management standards, which is at a very high level.

ISO 45001 can be aligned with other management system standards such as ISO 9001:2015 and ISO 14001:2015.

ISO 45001:2018 was officially published on 12.03.2018. Below are the main requirements and the differences compared to OHSAS 18001.

ISO 45001 standard – Key areas and organizational context

ISO 45001:2018 places a strong emphasis on the context of the organization. It requires the organization to take into account the expectations of stakeholders regarding occupational health and safety management.

The organization must determine which stakeholders are relevant to its OHS and also determine the relevant requirements of those stakeholders.

The purpose of ISO 45001:2018 is to provide an organization with a high level of understanding of the important issues that may have a positive or negative impact on it, as well as an understanding of how it manages its health and safety responsibilities in work towards its workers.

Issues of interest are those that affect the organization's ability to achieve desired outcomes. These include the objectives that the organization has set for its OH&S, such as meeting commitments related to occupational health and safety.

Leadership in occupational health and safety

Senior management must demonstrate their interest and commitment to the OHS through direct involvement, taking occupational health and safety performance into account in strategic planning.

Top management should contribute to the effectiveness of the OHS by playing an active role in directing, supporting and communicating with workers, and in promoting and leading the OHS organizational culture.

This new standard clearly sets out the requirements for the responsibility and accountability of senior management in relation to occupational health and safety management. And they are concerned with ensuring that ultimate responsibility cannot be delegated to health and safety managers or other managers within an organisation.

A risk-based approach to OHS

Closely related to the focus on the organizational context is the requirement to adopt a risk-based approach to the development of OHS. The organization must identify the risks and opportunities that must be addressed to ensure that OHS can achieve its intended objectives. These risks and opportunities include those that are related to or determined by the relevant organizational context.

The organization must plan actions to address these risks and opportunities, establish them in OHS processes, and evaluate the effectiveness of these actions.

Outsourcing/Outside contractors and sub-contractors

The standard requires the organization to ensure that outsourced processes affecting its OHS are defined and controlled. Where outsourced products and/or services are under the organization's control, supplier and contractor risk must be effectively managed.

Documented information

The term "documented information" is used instead of the term "documents and records" found in the OHSAS 18001 standard. Evidence of processed information that is not stored in a formal document system, such as electronic information stored on smartphones and tablets, will now be accepted.