What is ISO 45001?

ISO 45001 is an International Standard that specifies requirements for an occupational health and safety (OH&S) management system, with guidance for its use, to enable an organisation to proactively improve its OH&S performance in preventing injury and ill-health. ISO 45001 is intended to be applicable to any organisation regardless of its size, type and nature. ISO 45001 enables an organisation, through its OH&S management system, to integrate other aspects of health and safety, such as worker wellness/wellbeing; however, it should be noted that an organisation can be required by applicable legal requirements to also address such issues.

What Will ISO 45001 Do? 

Regardless of what industry you are in, accidents that lead to injury or health related issues will always occur. Therefore, whether you are an employee, manager or business owner, you will always share the same goal- minimize the number of casualties at work. ISO 45001 provides you with a framework to identify, control and prevent work-related injuries.

By obtaining an ISO 45001 certification you will prove that you care about the well-being of employees and that you are continually making efforts to enhance their welfare. Furthermore, you will earn a globally recognized certificate on Occupational Health and Safety Management, which will prove that you are aware of the policies and processes needed to reduce work injuries. You will also gain a competitive advantage by improving your brand’s reputation and increasing your capacity.

Key Differences Between OHSAS 18001 and ISO 45001:2018

The ISO 45001:2018 solely focuses on the occupational health and safety management system of an organisation. Published in March 2018, this standard works towards eliminating the chance of any potential disease and injuries related to occupation. It also follows the structure of ISO 14001:2015 and ISO 9001:2015, so that it is easy to integrate these standards in any organisation if it has already received the ISO 45001:2018 certification.

 This ISO standard is based on the OHSAS 18001 that also focuses on the OH&S assessments. The organisations that have already acquired the BS OHSAS 18001 certification can easily migrate to the ISO 45001 till March 2021. Although the ISO 45001:2018 is mainly based on the standards of OHSAS 18001, there are some differences in these two standards.

1. The now-defunct OHSAS 18001 was mainly focused on managing the occupational health and safety hazards and issues related to it. However, the ISO 45001 primarily focuses on the interaction between the working environment and the organisation. This helps to minimise or eliminate the chance of any hazard.
2. The new ISO 45001:2018 standard is a process-based certification while the old OHSAS 18001 is a procedure-based certification. The first one focuses primarily on why the hazard happens rather than solely concentrating on the solution part.
3. The OHSAS 18001 is not dynamic, but the new ISO 45001 truly is. Besides addressing all the OH&S issues of any organisation, it also gives it the much-required confidence in safety management for efficient productivity and improved working condition for all the workers.
4. The OHSAS 18001 certification primarily focuses on the occupational risk of any organisation while the ISO 45001 focuses on both the risk and opportunities. By doing so, it not only eliminates the chance of future hazards and also finds opportunities to improve the overall safety standard.
5.  OHSAS 18001 did not ever include the views of interested parties of any organisation. However, the new ISO 45001:2018 contains all the aspects. With that inclusion, it not only creates the engagement of all the parties but also creates a better working environment.

Benefits of ISO 45001

An ISO 45001 based OH&S management system will enable an organisation to improve its OH&S performance by:

• Developing and implementing an OH&S policy and OH&S objectives

• Establishing systematic processes which consider its “context” and which take into account its risks and opportunities, and its legal and other requirements

• Determining the hazards and OH&S risks associated with its activities; seeking to eliminate them, or putting in controls to minimize their potential effects

• Establishing operational controls to manage its OH&S risks and its legal and other requirements

• Increasing awareness of its OH&S risks

• Evaluating its OH&S performance and seeking to improve it, through taking appropriate actions

• Ensuring workers take an active role in OH&S matters

In combination, these measures will ensure that an organisation’s reputation as a safe place to work will be promoted, and can have more direct benefits, such as:

• Improving its ability to respond to regulatory compliance issues

• Reducing the overall costs of incidents

• Reducing downtime and the costs of disruption to operations

• Reducing the cost of insurance premiums

• Reducing absenteeism and employee turnover rates

• Recognition for having achieved an international benchmark (which may in turn influence customers who are concerned about their social responsibilities)