ISO 45001 - Occupational health and safety management
Occupational health and safety is not only a legal obligation, but should also be a mandatory part of the risk management strategy for responsible companies.
ISO 45001 - Occupational health and safety management
Occupational health and safety is not only a legal obligation, but should also be a mandatory part of the risk management strategy for responsible companies.
An occupational health and safety management system (OH&S management system) serves to prevent accidents at work and work-related injuries and illnesses, reduce risks and protect the health of employees.
By considering opportunities and risks in all processes, the organisation can act in a risk-based manner and focus on the essentials during implementation. The standard therefore goes beyond a simple safety concept and helps the organisation to identify obstacles to implementation in good time, assess them systematically and overcome them sustainably.
Summary
SGA opportunities and SGA risks are identified and assessed on the basis of systematically recorded hazards. By describing and evaluating the context of the organisation and the expectations and needs of interested parties, the SGA management system is placed within a framework. This ensures that relevant legal requirements are observed accordingly and changes are taken into account. This contributes to legal certainty and thus also to the protection of those responsible from avoidable liability claims.
Risk-based action allows you to focus on the essentials, which significantly increases the efficiency of the implementation of the SGA management system at the respective workplace without compromising its effectiveness. This not only reduces the number of accidents and downtime, but also increases the effectiveness of the measures taken, which significantly increases acceptance among those affected. Thanks to clearly described structures, responsibilities and processes as well as early involvement, experience has shown that employee motivation is also increased.
The fact that occupational health and safety management systems thus contribute to the economic success of a company promotes their acceptance and further dissemination.
The ISO 45001 standard is divided into the following chapters: occupational health and safety policy, context, planning, implementation and execution, control and corrective measures and evaluation by top management.
In principle, the ISO 45001 standard can be applied by any organisation, regardless of sector and size, and can also be certified together with other standards (e.g. ISO 9001 - Quality, ISO 14001 - Environment). Our auditors are recognised experts and understand the client's industry.
Development
The first version of OHSAS 18001 was published in 1999 and reissued in a revised version in 2007.
After several failed attempts to develop an ISO standard on occupational health and safety, the International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) decided in June 2013 to develop an ISO standard on this topic. A corresponding working group began its work in October 2013.
The new standard to be developed was planned to be published in October 2016. As a standard under the name ISO 18001 unfortunately already existed, ISO 45001 was chosen as the name for the future standard.
ISO 45001 is based on OHSAS 18001 and has the same structure as the management system standards ISO 9001:2015 and ISO 14001:2015 (High Level Structure).
ISO 45001 will replace OHSAS 18001 after a transition period of 3 years.
The standard was published on 12 March 2018 and is therefore in force.
The transition period for OHSAS 18001:2007 to ISO 45001:2018 runs until 31 March 2021.
Utilisation & Benefits
The implementation of an SGA management system in accordance with ISO 45001 offers the decisive advantage over the familiar safety concepts in accordance with EKAS 6508 or OHSAS 18001 in that ISO 45001 takes a holistic and practical approach to risks and opportunities. This applies not only to the actual identification of hazards, but also to the risks and opportunities associated with the organisational implementation of the SGA management system.
By assessing the SGA risks based on the identified hazards, the organisation can focus on the relevant aspects and define the necessary measures more easily.
- Reducing the number of accidents and accident-related downtimes improves efficiency and lowers insurance premiums
- Increased legal certainty
- Ideal integration of occupational safety measures into company processes
- Expression of an innovative and progressive approach leads to an improved image with investors, authorities and other interest groups
- Increases attractiveness for future employees
- Increased control and risk minimisation through clear objectives
- Improves internal and external communication
What you need to know
The requirements for an SGA management system are listed in ISO 45001. Certification is carried out in accordance with this standard. You can use the checklists from our shop to check your system.
You can find many good ideas on the SGA management system on the ISO website and on the site of the standards committee that is developing the standard (ISO/TC 283).
The implementation of an SGA management system in accordance with ISO 45001 offers the decisive advantage over the familiar safety concepts in accordance with EKAS 6508 or OHSAS 18001 in that ISO 45001 takes a holistic and practical approach to risks and opportunities. This applies not only to the actual identification of hazards, but also to the risks and opportunities associated with the organisational implementation of the SHE management system.
By assessing the SGA risks on the basis of the identified hazards, the organisation can focus on the relevant aspects and define the necessary measures more easily.
The consideration of opportunities and risks in all processes helps the organisation to identify existing optimisation potential and make the right decisions based on risk.
To prepare for certification and as support for internal audits, we make our checklists available free of charge in the Swiss Safety Center Shop.
Analogue to the ISO 9001 process.
Who is responsible for the development of ISO 45001?
The "Technical Committee" with the number 283 (ISO/TC 283) with its "Sub-committees" is responsible for the further development of the ISO 45001 family of standards.
Do I have to adjust the risk assessment?
The standard does not specify which method should be used to determine the hazards. However, the standard does provide information on the areas to be considered and the persons to be taken into account. However, the standard requires an assessment of the SGA risks based on the identified hazards. The methodology for assessing SGA risks must be systematic, which logically also applies to the underlying hazards.
This means that hazards must be assessed systematically. The focus of this assessment is on the effectiveness of the measures and their implementation in practice. The evaluation of hazards goes beyond assessing the hazard potential and checking the applicability of generally recognised rules, but does not necessarily lead to a risk assessment of each individual hazard.
Assessing the identified hazards requires a certain amount of adaptation, but also makes it possible to accept individual hazards without further measures - provided this is possible in view of the extent of the damage.
What are the differences to OHSAS 18001?
ISO 45001 considers opportunities and risks, whereas OHSAS 18001 only considers risks. In contrast to OHSAS 18001, ISO 45001 includes the perspective of those involved, starting with the analysis of interested parties.
The group of people considered in the risk assessment is much broader. Persons who have access to the workplace or are in its vicinity are considered.
Every person must be able to recognise dangerous situations so that they can withdraw from them in good time. This also applies to contractors, visitors and other parties - not just your own employees.