What is ISO 45001?
ISO 45001 is an internationally recognized standard that sets out the requirements for an Occupational Health and Safety Management System (OHSMS).
The standard is based on OHSAS 18001 developed by the British Standards Institute or BSI.
ISO 45001 aims to standardize the way OH&S management systems manage occupational health and safety risks to prevent work-related injury and ill health to workers and to provide safe and healthy workplaces. It is designed to eliminate hazards and minimize OH&S risks by taking effective preventive and protective measures.
What is the purpose of ISO 45001?
The purpose of an OH&S management system is to provide a framework for managing OH&S risks. The intended outcomes of the OH&S management system are to prevent work-related injury and ill health among workers and to provide safe and healthy workplaces.
Consequently, it is critically important for the organization to eliminate hazards and minimize OH&S risks by taking effective preventive and protective measures. When the organization applies these measures through its OH&S management system, it improves its OH&S performance.
An OH&S management system can be more effective and efficient when taking early action to address opportunities to improve OH&S performance. Implementing an OH&S management system conforming to this document enables an organization to manage its OH&S risks and improve its OH&S performance.
An OH&S management system can assist an organization in fulfilling its legal requirements and other requirements. Fundamental to fulfilling achieving these objectives are two features …
1. Managing OH&S Risks – the intentions and direction of an organization as formally expressed by its top management and consistent with the context of the organization and
2. Improve OH&S Performance – measurable targets, generally specified for relevant organizational functions, levels, and processes – focused on improvements.
A Certified OH&S management system also assists an organization in fulfilling its legal and other requirements. External Auditors will persistently pay great attention to these three issues. For more, see the ISO publication ISO 45001 Occupational Health & Safety.
External Auditors will persistently pay great attention to these three issues.
For more, see the ISO publication ISO 45001 Occupational Health & Safety.
Who needs an Occupational Health & Safety Management System (OHSMS)?
An OH&S Management system (OHSMS) is defined as a formalized system that provides organizations with a framework for managing OH&S risks. The intended outcomes of the OH&S management system are to prevent work-related injury and ill health among workers and to provide safe and healthy workplaces.
So, you have an OHSMS, and the fundamental question is do we need to formalize the system. Most organizations asking themselves this question say ‘yes.’
Currently, more than 290,000 organizations globally have a formal OHSMS certified to ISO 45001. This number is growing rapidly; we expect 500,000 certified organizations within five years.
What is an ISO 45001 Certification?
An ISO 45001 Certificate is recognition from a Certification Body – CAB (usually an accredited Certification Body) that an organization has implemented and is maintaining an OH&S Management system that meets the requirements of ISO 45001:2018.
Who needs ISO 45001 Certification?
Organizations globally, both public and private spheres, and from every economic sector, can benefit from maintaining an ISO 45001 compliant OH&S Management System (OHSMS).
What are the Benefits of having ISO 45001 Certification?
Beyond preventing death and injury, there are at least sixteen benefits that organizations with an OHSMS in place can enjoy.
For the organization directly, here are some more:
- Legal and Regulatory Compliance: As demonstrated by independent assessment by an accredited certification body.
- Reputation: Be taken seriously as a prospective supplier as the holder of ISO 45001 Certification.
- Qualify for pre-tender and tender opportunities, especially from the public sector.
- Status: On equal terms with the ‘big’ boys – the size of your organization won’t hold you back.
- Hazard Analysis, Risk Assessment, and Risk Treatment help engender a habit of quantifying threats of all kinds to the business and then proactively dealing with them.
- Objectives and improvement obligations focus you on setting targets for improvement and then planning and implementing them in a timely manner.
Do You Need ISO 45001 Certification?
Yes and No.
In many cases, ISO 45001 certification can be a useful tool – especially for SMEs – to add credibility by demonstrating through independent audit your organization’s commitment to operating safely and healthily to staff and everyone using a particular site. For some sectors, ISO 45001 certification is a contractual requirement.
What is ISO 45001 Training?
ISO 45001 training involves training programs designed to equip auditors, lead implementers, quality managers, and other management system professionals with the necessary skills and knowledge required in developing, implementing, and maintaining an Occupational Health and Safety Management System (OHSMS) compliant with the requirements of ISO 45001.
Is ISO 45001 Training Mandatory?
The training of a Management Representative or others with day-to-day responsibility to maintain an OHSMS is NOT mandatory. Training is implied as part of developing competence but not a specific stand-alone requirement.
Likewise, training is not required for internal auditors. However, training is recommended to enable them to perform effective internal audits as well as help them prepare for the next Certification Body audit.
What is an ISO 45001 Certification?
An ISO 45001 Certificate is recognition from a Certification Body – CAB (usually an accredited Certification Body) that an organization has implemented and is maintaining an OH&S Management system that meets the requirements of ISO 45001:2018.
Do You Need ISO 45001 Certification?
Yes and No. In many cases, ISO 45001 certification can be a useful tool – especially for SMEs – to add credibility by demonstrating through independent audit your organization’s commitment to operating safely and healthily to staff and everyone using a particular site. For some sectors, ISO 45001 certification is a contractual requirement.
Do Management Representatives or others responsible for an OHSMS need training?
The training of a Management Representative or others with day-to-day responsibility to maintain an OHSMS is NOT mandatory. Training is implied as part of developing competence but not a specific stand-alone requirement.
So, unless you are determined to outsource this support indefinitely (technically, that’s not permitted), you must train your Management Representative.
And you’re in luck. We’ve got exactly the ISO 45001 course you need.
For more info, visit our ISO 45001 Lead Implementer Course page.
How do you get ISO 45001 Certification?
There are two stages in securing ISO 45001 Certification:
- Stage 1. Develop, implement, and maintain a suitable OHSMS for your organization and
- Stage 2. Engage the services of a CAB to undertake the necessary evaluations and audits. Stage 1. Develop, implement, and maintain a suitable OHSMS for your organization: Our Infographic shown here nicely illustrates the multi-step process of preparing for Certification (click on the infographic image to get a copy for yourself).
Whichever of the three approaches you choose (or variants thereof), you will benefit from our ISO 45001 Lead Implementer Course in managing and directing your ISO 45001 Project.
Note that when choosing a certification body, you should:
- Evaluate several certification bodies.
- Check if the certification body auditing activities include ISO 45001:2018.
- Check if it is accredited. Accreditation is not compulsory, and non-accreditation does not necessarily mean it is not reputable, but it does provide independent confirmation of competence.
To find an accredited certification body, contact the national accreditation body in your country or visit the International Accreditation Forum.
Note: the terms certification and accreditation cannot be used interchangeably, though it is not uncommon to do so. The difference between accreditation and Certification is:
Certification – the provision by an independent body of written assurance (a certificate) that the product, service, or system in question meets specific requirements.
Accreditation – the formal recognition by an independent body, generally known as an accreditation body, that a certification body operates according to international standards. For more, visit the International Accreditation Forum/about us/ and 10 Reasons to change your ISO Certification Body.
While helping to prevent the injury or death of a colleague tops everyone’s list, here are 16 more benefits that organizations SMEs certified to ISO 45001 will enjoy.
- Recognized reputation as a safe place to work, and you have the internationally recognized Certificate to prove it.
- Larger pool of qualified candidates applying to work with your business because of this reputation.
- Reduced absenteeism and employee turnover rates as employees have objective reasons to feel safer at work.
- Improved ability to respond to regulatory compliance issues with an enhanced relationship with the regulatory authorities; therefore,
- Reduced cost of OH&S incidents as you have a system in place to prevent their recurrence.
- Reduced downtime and the costs of disruption to operations because of fewer OH&S incidents and, when they occur, they are dealt with systematically and efficiently.
- Reduced cost of insurance premiums as insurance companies recognize that certified businesses make fewer and less costly claims.
- Peer recognition for having achieved an international benchmark, which in turn influences current and potential customers who are concerned about their social responsibilities.
- Improved scoring in pre-tender documents (especially from public sector organizations) helps ensure your organization can compete with established businesses.
- Reduced fines if prosecuted as your Certification constitutes objective evidence to a court of the seriousness with which occupational health and safety are treated.
- Potentially reduce public liability insurance costs.
- Qualify for pre-tender and tender opportunities. This is especially true if you deal with the public sector.
- Performance of periodic internal audits. Helps with monitoring compliance with ISO 45001 requirements and highlighting deficiencies.
- Corrective actions to prevent the recurrence of OH&S incidents. Try to make mistakes only once, if at all.
- Informed Board of Directors. Knowing that the organization is safety conscious and has a certificate to prove it is reassuring.
- Management satisfaction knowing that the organization is functioning in line with legal requirements.
How does ISO 45001 Relate to Other Standards from the ISO 45000 Series?
In addition to ISO 45001, there are several other Standards in the ISO 45000 Series that you should consider and, perhaps, include in the scope of your OHSMS. If your organization is certified to ISO 45001, your Certification Body will add mention of any of these other OH&S Standards to your ISO 45001 Certificate.
They include the following:
ISO 45001:2018 – Occupational Health and Safety Management Systems (OHSMS) – Requirements with guidance for use.
- Requirements for an auditable OHSMS to protect the health and safety of all in the workplace.
- The ‘parent’ of the Series.
ISO 45002:2023 – OHSMS – General guideline for the implementation of ISO 45001:2018
- Guidance on establishing, implementing, maintaining, and continually improving an occupational health and safety (OH&S) management system that can help organizations conform to ISO 45001:2018.
- For most of the clauses in the Standard, there are real-life cases of how different types of organizations have implemented the requirements.
ISO 45003:2021 Occupational health and safety management (OHSM) – Psychological health and safety at work – Guidelines for managing psychosocial risks.
- Guidelines for managing psychosocial risk within an OHSMS based on ISO 45001. It enables organizations to prevent work-related injury and ill health of their workers and other interested parties and to promote well-being at work.
ISO 45004: 202X – OHSM Guidelines on performance evaluation (in development – expected 2024)
- Includes the processes the organization chooses to assess the adequacy of activities expected to achieve OH&S intended results. OH&S performance is typically evaluated using a combination of processes and sources of information such as incident investigation, inspections, audits, qualitative and quantitative indicators, culture surveys, and interviews.
ISO 45005:2021 – OHSM – General guidelines for safe working during the COVID-19 pandemic
- This document gives guidelines for organizations on how to manage the risks arising from COVID-19 to protect work-related health, safety, and well-being.
ISO 45006: 202X – OHSM Guidelines for organizations on preventing and managing infectious diseases (in development – expected late 2023)
- Will replace ISO 45005
- Guidelines for organizations on how to prevent exposure to and manage the risks associated with infectious diseases that: – present a risk of severe ill health or death and can impact the health, safety, and well-being of workers and relevant interested parties; – present a lower health risk yet have a significant impact on the organization, its workers and relevant interested parties.
