ISO45001 – The Occupational Health & Safety Standard

ISO45001 is the internationally recognised standard for occupational health and safety. Being certified to ISO45001 indicates that an organisation’s Occupational Health & Safety Management System (OHS) complies with the requirements detailed by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO).

An Occupational Health & Safety Management System is a system that documents your organisation’s policies, processes and procedures relating to health and safety of your employees, visitors and contractors. It helps to ensure that everyone is safe by minimising the risk of injuring or even accidentally killing someone at work.   

ISO45001 uses Plan-Do-Check-Act (PDCA) to drive continual improvement. During the ‘plan’ stage, you will determine and assess OH&S risks, OH&S opportunities and other risks and opportunities. You will also establish your OH&S objectives and processes. After the ‘do’ stage, you will ‘check’ how your plan worked and report the results. During the ‘act’ stage, you will take actions to continually improve the OH&S performance of your business.

In 2019-20, an estimated 38 million working days in the UK were lost as a result of work-related ill-health and non-fatal workplace injuries. Stress, depression or anxiety and musculoskeletal disorders accounted for the majority of days off. ISO45001 can help you address these risks.

ISO45001 is designed to be relevant to businesses of all sizes. If you trade internationally and need to prove your compliance with health & safety, or ensure that your reputation remains untarnished, ISO45001 is the ideal solution.

Although employees pay the price of poor health physically and/or mentally, employers also suffer. Implementing ISO45001 will reduce the risk of accidents or ill health. This will improve your operational performance by reducing the number of sick days, minimise the risk of litigation and help to improve your company’s reputation as a supplier and employer of choice.

If you already have ISO9001 (Quality), ISO14001 (Environmental) and/or ISO27001 (Information Security), you’ll be able to add ISO45001 as part of an integrated management system thanks to their common structure (Annex SL).

The cost depends on the size and complexity of your organisation and how much time you can devote to the project. We have a number of solutions available and offer flexible payments as we all know that cash flow is important.

The standard was only published in 2018, so it offers businesses the best protection against workplace injuries and illnesses. We’ll let you know when the standard is revised if you are one of our clients or subscribe to our newsletter. There’s normally a three-year grace period to transition to a new version of a standard and we’ll support you through the process.

ISO45001 replaces the OHSAS18001 management system. Companies certified to OHSAS 18001 have until March 2021 to meet the new requirements.  Here’s a quick summary of the differences between the two standards:

• ISO45001 is process-based whereas OHSAS18001 was procedure-based
• ISO45001 follows the Annex SL structure common to other popular standards including ISO9001, this makes it easier to run an integrated management system
• Senior management are expected to be more engaged in continuously improving the H&S systems under ISO45001, e.g. by conducting frequent management reviews and rewarding employees for raising issues
• ISO45001 requires the development of a H&S culture across an organisation rather than making it the responsibility of a management representative
• ISO45001 focuses on risk-based thinking
• ISO45001 considers the business environment whereas OHSAS18001 was more inward-looking
• It is possible to include mental health under ISO45001 as well as physical health

You will need to ensure that your systems meet the standard’s requirements and then pass an external audit. Find out how our ISO certification process will ensure that you’re primed for success.

Our knowledgeable ISO consultants will develop a step-by-step plan to ensure your systems comply with the standard. Don’t worry if you have no prior experience of ISO, we believe in taking a jargon-free approach!

Yes, providing you meet the requirements of the standard, your certification body will issue you an ISO45001 logo and a certificate. As achieving ISO45001 can boost your reputation, we’ll also provide you with a copy of our Promotion Power Pack. This is a ten-step guide to promoting your certification on your website, emails and marketing materials. If required, we can also ask your certification body to write a short testimonial for your use.

Many organisations combine their OH&S and environmental functions, so ISO based ISO45001 on ISO14001, the Environmental Management Standard. However, ISO45001 can also easily be run alongside ISO9001 (Quality) and/or ISO27001 (Information Security) as part of an integrated management system.

Each year, you will be audited by your certification body. You don’t need to remember to arrange this, we’ll do it on your behalf and give you plenty of notice.

Although the requirements of the standard may stay the same between audits, the H&S risks facing your business may well change. Our fixed price Compliance as a Service will provide you with telephone and email support to help you manage risks. During the coronavirus crisis, we helped lots of businesses minimise their H&S risks by developing coronavirus policies, sourcing PPE and implementing COVID-safe audits.  

We can also help you develop the skills needed to run internal audits and hold management reviews.

If you’re interested in improving your health & safety, please contact us today for a free, no obligation chat.