Health and safety in the workplace are the number one concern of most businesses, yet still deaths and injuries occur. ISO 45001 sets the minimum standard of practice to protect employees worldwide.
No matter who you are, health and safety is relevant for you.
ISO 45001 sets requirements for occupational health and management systems and is designed to help organisations worldwide protect the health and safety of people at work.
The goal is to help businesses protect workers and guests from work-related accidents and diseases. The standard provides guidance that senior management can use to create a safe working environment, control factors that cause illness and injury, preserve workers’ physical and mental well-being and reduce business risk.
Why Is ISO 45001 Important?
According to the International Organization for Standardization, 153 people experience workplace injuries. In serious cases, unsafe working conditions can even lead to death.
Safety requirements and protocol vary from industry to industry and jobsite to jobsite. One of the benefits of ISO 45001 is that it is flexible enough to implement in virtually any organization.
ISO 45001: Your Questions Answered
Who is ISO 45001 for?
ISO 45001 is applicable to all organizations, regardless of size, industry or nature of business. It is designed to be integrated into an organization’s existing management processes and follows the same high-level structure as other ISO management system standards, such as ISO 9001 (quality management) and ISO 14001 (environmental management).
What are the benefits for my business ?
ISO 45001 enables organizations to put in place an occupational health and safety (OH&S) management system.
This will help them manage their OH&S risks and improve their OH&S performance by developing and implementing effective policies and objectives.
Key potential benefits from use of the standard include :
• Reduction of workplace incidents
• Reduced absenteeism and staff turnover, leading to increased productivity
• Reduced cost of insurance premiums
• Creation of a health and safety culture, whereby employees are encouraged to take an active role in their own OH&S
• Reinforced leadership commitment to proactively improve OH&S performance
• Ability to meet legal and regulatory requirements
• Enhanced reputation
• Improved staff morale
Who Should Get ISO 45001 Certification?
ISO 45001 certification is a good idea for any business that needs to mitigate safety risks and demonstrate a dedication to preventing work-related illnesses, injuries and deaths.
This can include small and large businesses and businesses in a wide variety of industries.
Some examples include automotive, manufacturing, construction and healthcare.
How does it differ from other OH&S standards ?
ISO 45001 was developed with consideration of other related standards, such as OHSAS 18001, Occupational health and safety management, the International Labour Organization’s ILO-OSH 2001 guidelines and various national standards, and is consistent with the ILO’s international labour standards and conventions.
Developed under the ISO system, with the input of experts from more than 70 countries, it provides an international framework that takes into account the interaction between an organization and its business environment.
ISO 45001 adopts a risk-based approach that ensures it is effective and undergoes continual improvement to meet an organization’s ever-changing context.
Can I integrate ISO 45001 into my existing management system ?
ISO 45001 shares a high-level structure (HLS), identical core text and terms and definitions with other recently revised ISO management system standards such as ISO 9001:2015 and ISO 14001:2015.
This framework is designed to facilitate the integration of new management topics into an organization’s established management systems.
In addition, ISO 45001 was designed to follow ISO 14001 fairly closely, as it is recognized that many organizations combine their OH&S and environmental management functions internally. This will simplify the integration of ISO 45001, particularly for those who are familiar with ISO 14001.
Does ISO 45001 Replace The Need For Other Certification?
No, ISO 45001 does not replace the need for other certifications (such as ISO 14001 and ISO 9001).
ISO 45001 is designed for OHS systems, and although they follow the same system structure, ISO 14001 and ISO 9001 are focused on different disciplines (Environment and Quality).
Can ISO 45001 be used to address and manage the human factors?
Human factors are among the factors affecting OH&S risks to workers.
As part of ISO45001 implementation, human factors are considered within the scope of its OH&S management system and use the ISO 45001 framework in addressing and managing the related risks.
How can Dynamic Safety Solutions help you achieve ISO 45001 certification?
If you are considering implementing, here are is the general approach we follow to ensure successful implementation of ISO 45001 certification into your business:
- We preform an analysis of your organisation’s business activities that are relevant to OH&S as well as the internal and external factors that might impact your business.
- We establish the scope of the system, considering what you would like your management system to achieve.
- Set your OH&S policy and objectives.
- Define the time frame in which you wish to implement your system and plan how to successfully achieve certification.
- Determine any competence and/or resource gaps that need addressing before you can implement the standard
For more information, get in touch by clicking here
