ISO 45001:2018 specifies requirements for an occupational health and safety (OH&S) management system, and gives guidance for its use, to enable organizations to provide safe and healthy workplaces by preventing work-related injury and ill health, as well as by proactively improving its OH&S performance.

ISO 45001:2018 is applicable to any organization that wishes to establish, implement and maintain an OH&S management system to improve occupational health and safety, eliminate hazards and minimize OH&S risks (including system deficiencies), take advantage of OH&S opportunities, and address OH&S management system nonconformities associated with its activities.

ISO 45001:2018 helps an organization to achieve the intended outcomes of its OH&S management system. Consistent with the organization’s OH&S policy, the intended outcomes of an OH&S management system include:

  1. Continual improvement of OH&S performance;
  2. Fulfilment of legal requirements and other requirements;
  3. Achievement of OH&S objectives.

ISO 45001:2018 is applicable to any organization regardless of its size, type and activities. It is applicable to the OH&S risks under the organization’s control, taking into account factors such as the context in which the organization operates and the needs and expectations of its workers and other interested parties.

ISO 45001:2018 does not state specific criteria for OH&S performance, nor is it prescriptive about the design of an OH&S management system.

ISO 45001:2018 enables an organization, through its OH&S management system, to integrate other aspects of health and safety, such as worker wellness/wellbeing.

ISO 45001:2018 does not address issues such as product safety, property damage or environmental impacts, beyond the risks to workers and other relevant interested parties.

ISO 45001:2018 can be used in whole or in part to systematically improve occupational health and safety management. However, claims of conformity to this document are not acceptable unless all its requirements are incorporated into an organization’s OH&S management system and fulfilled without exclusion.

Why ISO 45001 is good for your organization?

ISO 45001 is designed to prevent work-related injury and ill-health and to provide safe and healthy workplaces.

As an international standard, ISO 45001 crosses geographic, political, economic, commercial and social boundaries. This sets a single benchmark for the management of occupational health and safety. So if your organization operates or trades internationally, you can work to a single standard which can simplify your business.

WHAT ARE THE MAJOR DIFFERENCES BETWEEN OHSAS 18001 AND ISO 45001?

There are many differences, but the main change is that ISO 45001 concentrates on the interaction between an organization and its business environment while OHSAS 18001 was focused on managing OH&S hazards and other internal issues. But the standards also diverge in many other ways:

  • ISO 45001 is process-based – OHSAS 18001 is procedure-based
  • ISO 45001 is dynamic in all clauses – OHSAS 18001 is not
  • ISO 45001 considers both risk and opportunities – OHSAS 18001 deals exclusively with risk
  • ISO 45001 includes the views of interested parties – OHSAS 18001 does not

 ISO 45001 benefits:

  • Increase organizational resilience through proactive risk prevention, innovation and continual improvement
  • Strengthening of legal and regulatory compliance whilst reducing business losses
  • Demonstrates brand responsibility by committing to safe, healthy and sustainable work
  • One global occupational health and safety system for all businesses, of all sizes

Success factors:

The implementation and maintenance of an OH&S management system, its effectiveness and its ability to achieve its intended outcomes are dependent on a number of key factors, which can include:

  • top management leadership, commitment, responsibilities and accountability;
  • top management developing, leading and promoting a culture in the organization that supports the intended outcomes of the OH&S management system;
  • communication;
  • consultation and participation of workers, and, where they exist, workers’ representatives;
  • allocation of the necessary resources to maintain it;
  • OH&S policies, which are compatible with the overall strategic objectives and direction of the organization;
  • effective process(es) for identifying hazards, controlling OH&S risks and taking advantage of OH&S opportunities;
  • continual performance evaluation and monitoring of the OH&S management system to improve OH&S performance;
  • integration of the OH&S management system into the organization’s business processes;
  • OH&S objectives that align with the OH&S policy and take into account the organization’s hazards, OH&S risks and OH&S opportunities;
  • compliance with its legal requirements and other requirements.