ISO 45001:2018 – Occupational health and safety management systems – Requirements with guidance for use has been released. Its creation spanned the four tracks of the ISO development process—involving the release of committee draft (CD), Draft International Standard (DIS), and Final Draft International Standard (FDIS) documents—before reaching the publication stage as a new international standard.
What is ISO 45001?
ISO 45001:2018 should help organizations enhance employee safety by reducing workplace risks and creating better, safer working conditions. People spend a great deal of time at their place of work. However, and unfortunately, work-related health problems persist. In fact, according to the International Labour Organisation (ILO), over 2.78 million people die each year from work-related accidents or diseases.
This isn’t disastrous just for the individuals who lose their lives; it’s a problem for the employers as well. Occupational injuries lead to losses from early retirements, staff absence, and rising insurance premiums. This also wages a toll on the wider economy.
What is an Occupational Health and Safety Management System (OHSMS)?
An occupational health and safety (OH&S) management system is the direct means to combat this. In accordance with ISO 45001:2018, an OH&S management system helps provide a framework for managing occupational health and safety risks, and it can be integrated into an existing management system. This lets organizations take responsibility in promoting and protecting their physical and mental health.
Relation to ISO 9001 and Other Management Systems Standards
The anticipated success of ISO 45001:2018 is due to its similarities with existing ISO management system standards, particularly ISO 9001:2015 and ISO 14001:2015. Containing the shared Annex SL structure of these international nonprescriptive documents, ISO 45001:2018 takes into account other standards for occupational health and safety, including OHSAS 18001, the ILO-OSH Guidelines, and various national standards.
Also shared with other management system standards is the focus on top leadership in ISO 45001:2018. Furthermore, the OH&S management system laid out in the international document is founded on the Plan-Do-Check-Act (PDCA), in which all personnel levels of the organization collaborate at each stage of the cycle for continual improvement.
ISO 45001:2018 also addresses numerous other actions for carrying out a dependent OH&S management system, including clear communication, allocating resources, the effectiveness of processes, continual performance evaluation, and integrating the system throughout the organization and into various business processes.
Get ISO 45001:2018
This standard is available as part of the Occupational Health and Safety Management Package.
ISO 45001:2018 – Occupational health and safety management systems – Requirements with guidance for use is available on the ANSI Webstore.
ISO 45001 Certification and Accreditation
As this standard now serves as the benchmark for an OHSMS, to demonstrate compliance with its requirements, many seek out certification. The organizations who issue these certifications, as well as other management systems certification bodies, can attain accreditation by the ANSI National Accreditation Board (ANAB) under ISO/IEC 17021-1 to assure that their certification holds a level of reliability and esteem.
You can learn more about Accreditation for ISO 45001 Occupational Health and Safety Management Systems here. Please note that existing accreditations for ANSI/AIHA Z10, BS OHSAS 18001, and/or CSA Z1000 are being migrated to ISO 45001.
