ISO 45001:2018 is an International Standard that specifies requirements for occupational health and safety (OH&S) management system, with guidance for its use, to enable an organization to proactively improve its OH&S performance in preventing injury and ill-health as well as by proactively improving its OH&S performance… ISO 45001 is intended to be applicable to any organization regardless of its size, type, and nature.

ISO 45001:2018 is an ISO standard for management systems of occupational safety and health (OH&S), published in March 2018. The goal of ISO 45001 is the reduction of occupational injuries and diseases.

The standard is based on OHSAS 18001, labour standards, conventions, and guidelines of the International Labour Organization, and national standards.

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 minimizes OH&S risks (including system deficiencies), takes advantage of OH&S opportunities, and addresses OH&S management system nonconformities associated with its activities.

ISO 45001 Certification 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:

• continual improvement of OH&S performance.
• fulfilment of legal requirements and other requirements,
• 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.

An ISO 45001 based OH&S management system will enable an organization to improve its OH&S performance by:

• developing and implementing an OH&S policy and OH&S objectives
• establishing systematic processes which consider its “context” and which take into account its risks and opportunities, and its legal and other requirements
• determining the hazards and OH&S risks associated with its activities; seeking to them, or putting in controls to minimize their potential effects
• establishing operational controls to manage its OH&S risks and its legal and other requirements
• increasing awareness of its OH&S risks
• evaluating its OH&S performance and seeking to improve it, through taking appropriate actions
• ensuring workers take an active role in OH&S matters

In combination, these measures will ensure that an organization’s reputation as a safe place to work will be promoted, and can have more direct benefits, such as:

• improving its ability to respond to regulatory compliance issues
• reducing the overall costs of incidents
• reducing downtime and the costs of disruption to operations
• reducing the cost of insurance premiums
• reducing absenteeism and employee turnover rates
• recognition for having achieved an international benchmark (which may in turn influence customers who are concerned about their social responsibilities

ISO 45001 follows the high-level structure approach that is being applied to other ISO management system standards, such as ISO 9001 (quality) and ISO 14001 (environment). In developing the standard, consideration has been given to the content of other international standards (such as OHSAS 18001 or the International Labour Organization’s “ILO –OSH Guidelines”) and national standards, as well as to the ILO’s International Labour standards and conventions (ILSs).

Those adopting the standard, once it has been published, should find its requirements consistent with the other standards. This will allow for relatively easy migration from using an existing OH&S management system standard to using ISO 45001, and will also allow for the alignment and integration with the requirements of other ISO management system standards into their organization’s overall management processes