ISO 45001 – Worth waiting for

As part of the ISO 45001 committee, this has inevitably led to me being asked many questions, such as ‘what will it contain?’ and ‘how will it be structured?’ Another question I have been asked very recently is ‘why is it all taking so long?’

There is actually very good reason for this and it is down to the unprecedented level of input from around the world that has gone into the standard. Occupational health and safety is a subject of huge interest to almost every country on the planet, with all kinds of employers, individuals and organisations having contributed to ISO 45001. While examining this input has taken time, it should be seen as a good thing because ISO 45001 and its framework is now set to be relevant and applicable to organisations everywhere in the world, regardless of their size, type and nature.

ISO 45001 is highly flexible. For example, an organisation that currently has no health and safety management system in place could use it to help start a step by step progression to improving health and safety. Alternatively, an organisation that has an existing system in place could use the standard to make further improvements and integrate its system into its general business practices. Either way, meeting the requirements of the standard will help any organisation demonstrate to workers and other interested stakeholders that it takes its obligations to provide a safe and healthy working environment very seriously.

ISO45001 is now very close to final approval and for anyone who is already familiar with ISO 14001 (environmental) or ISO 9001 (quality), the structure will be instantly recognisable. Like these other ISO standards, 45001 has been built around ‘Annex SL’, ISO’s guidelines for writing standards for management systems.

It should be remembered that ISO 45001 is not prescriptive about the design of an OHS management system, but its scope is very broad in terms what might be appropriate to different types of organisations.

The standard’s ‘Plan-Do-Check-Act’ format, which should again be familiar to those who have worked towards ISO 14001 or 9001, provides guidance on areas including:

• Leadership and worker participation – explaining what an organisation’s management needs to do and how to include workers in health and safety decisions
• Hazard identification and risk assessment – including how to identify opportunities to improve, determining legal requirements (and any other standards the organisation signs up to) and how to plan and set objectives
• Areas of competence and communication – internal and external
• Evaluating performance – including monitoring and auditing
• Risk reduction and managing change – how to manage outsourcing and contractors and being prepared for emergencies
• How to ensure continuous improvement, investigate accidents and take action to correct the root cause of an issue

It is also worth noting that the British Standards Institute (BSI) is planning to publish UK-focused guidance, which will provide examples of what organisations can do to implement the standard’s requirements.

If your organisation is already considering applying for accreditation, I would recommend beginning with a gap analysis. It will help you understand which areas you already meet and where you will need to implement new approaches or activity to reach the required standard. You can then begin the process of working towards accreditation and gathering the evidence you will need.

At the time of writing I am preparing to travel to Malaysia where I will be Acting Head of Delegation for the latest ISO 45001 meeting. I anticipate that we will be able to share further details about launch timescales following this meeting. I would encourage you all to consider adopting the standard; I believe it will make a significant contribution to creating safer and healthier working environments across the world.