ISO 45001:2018 Health & Safety Management Systems

What is ISO 45001 Health & Safety Management?

ISO 45001:2018 supports new areas of management systems to ensure better compatibility and systems governance, making the implementation within an organisation a lot smoother. This standard will apply to any organisation wishing to:

  • Establish and implement an internationally recognised occupational health and safety management system to reduce or minimise risks to personnel and other relevant parties.
  • Maintain and constantly improve their health & safety performance.
  • Keep all operations in line with their stated health and safety policies to an internationally recognised standard.

Organisations implementing multiple management systems (e.g., quality, environmental, information security) can achieve better integration and easier implementation.

The ISO/IEC Directives, Part 1, Consolidated ISO Supplement, 2013, ANNEX SL (link), Appendix 2 sets out the high-level structure, identical core text and common terms and core definitions that are to form, when possible, the nucleus of future and revised management system standards such as ISO 9001 and ISO 14001.

 

High level structure:

  • Scope
  • Normative reference
  • Terms and definitions
  • Context of the organisation
  • Leadership
  • Planning
  • Support
  • Operation
  • Performance evaluation

Thorne Management Systems Services Include:

  • Conducting a gap analysis to ascertain where your company is with regards to an Occupational Health & Safety Management System.
  • Preparing the written paperwork for the OH&S Management System, this includes the OH&S policy, OH&S Manual and the necessary OH&S procedures.
  • Training your employees to participate in and administer the OH&S Management System
  • Training your employees to conduct internal audits and management reviews
  • Coordinating the implementation of your system
  • Monitor your progress through internal audits and management reviews.
  • Aiding you in choosing a certification body
  • Assisting you with the rectification of your certification body’s audit findings.

ISO 45001 the new OHSAS 18001

In October 2013 a project committee, ISO PC 283, met in London to create the first working draft of ISO 45001. Using OHSAS 18001 – the internally recognised and adopted British Standard for Occupational Health and Safety – as the blueprint, the standard will also be aligned with ISO 9001 (Quality Management ) and ISO 14001 (Environmental Management).
There were over 50 countries and international organisations, including the international labour organisation, involved in this work. The new standard was released in March 2018.

Why the world needs ISO 45001
Every day across the globe, horrific statistics for health and safety incidents, accidents and their related costs are recorded. Although companies tend to use generic health and safety guidelines or national and consortia standards, none of these demonstrate global conformity.
A recent OHSAS Standards and Certificates Survey has shown a rapid increase in the use of ISO standards over the last decade, with over 127 countries currently using these standards, there was a worldwide need to harmonise health and safety management systems using an international standard and share best practices.

Making a global difference
The need for an international standard in this field can be seen at local, national, regional and global levels – applying to both developing and developed countries. With an international standard to refer to together with the right infrastructure and training, these organisations will be able to address their risks better in future.
More and more companies also want detailed information about their supplier’s occupational health and safety practices to protect their brands. This motivates suppliers to implement better and internationally recognised systems to establish good health and safety practices. Third party certification helps to demonstrate that a business is meeting its requirements effectively whilst the process of achieving and maintaining certification helps ensure that it is continually improving across all areas of the organisation.