Everything You Need to Know About ISO 45001

ISO 45001 is an international occupational health and safety (OH&S) standard that provides a framework for organisations to design, implement and continually improve an OH&S management system. It replaces the previous British standard, OHSAS 18001. The standard uses the Plan-Do-Check-Act methodology to help businesses of all sizes and sectors manage health and safety risks.

Naturally, managing and reducing health and safety risks is vital for any organisation. Adopting the ISO 45001 standard allows your business to systematically manage OH&S risks, reduce workplace incidents, demonstrate commitment to worker health and safety, and ensure compliance with OH&S regulations. The standard requires continual improvement so compliant businesses can ensure ongoing improvements to OH&S performance.

Discover everything you need to know about ISO 45001, from the standard’s scope and requirements to common implementation challenges and how to overcome them. Whether you are an organisation seeking to improve your OH&S processes or looking to learn more about OH&S best practices, this blog provides key information about the ISO 45001 standard to start you on your journey to compliance.

Understanding the Basics of ISO 45001

ISO 45001 provides a framework for implementing an OH&S management system that enables organisations to improve their OH&S, identify risks, and reduce incidents. It provides guidelines and best practices to ensure the intended outcomes of an OH&S management system, including the fulfilment of compliance obligations and the achievement of your organisation’s objectives.

The standard encompasses various key requirements, including:

• Establishing and maintaining an appropriate OH&S policy
• Implementing a process for hazard identification that is ongoing and proactive
• Assigning OH&S organisational roles, responsibilities and authorities 
• Monitoring and measuring the performance of the OH&S management system 
• Identifying how to fulfil legal requirements and other requirements

Adhering to these requirements enables organisations to effectively demonstrate their commitment to a safe workplace.

ISO 45001 Clauses and Annexes

The ISO 45001 standard is divided into clauses and annexes: Clauses 4-10 detail the standard’s requirements, while Annex A provides guidance on its use and implementation.

Clause 4: Context of the Organisation

This clause requires your organisation to understand relevant internal and external issues that may affect your ability to achieve the intended outcomes of your OH&S management system. This section also requires your organisation to gain a general understanding of the needs and expectations of workers and other interested parties, including potential legal requirements. 

Clause 4 also details considerations for establishing the scope of an OH&S management system and outlines how your organisation should establish, implement, maintain and continually improve its OH&S management system in accordance with the ISO 45001 standard requirements.

Clause 5: Leadership and Worker Participation

Clause 5 details how your senior team should demonstrate leadership and commitment to your OH&S management system. It also outlines the requirements for establishing, implementing, and maintaining an OH&S policy.

The clause guides how top management should assign and communicate responsibilities for relevant organisational roles within your OH&S management system. It also requires your organisation to establish, implement, and maintain a process (or processes) for consultation with workers and workers’ representatives regarding your OH&S management system.

Clause 6: Planning

Clause 6 provides guidance on the actions your organisation should take to plan for your OH&S management system, including:

• OH&S risks and opportunities
• Hazard identification
• Legal requirements and other requirements
• Taking action to address the above obligations. 

The clause also details how your organisation should establish OH&S objectives and plan effective actions to achieve them.

Clause 7: Support

This clause requires your organisation to determine and provide the support systems needed to establish, implement, maintain and continually improve an OH&S management system. This includes:

• Resources needed for the establishment, implementation, maintenance and continual improvement of the OH&S management system
• Ensuring the competence and training of employees doing work that affects OH&S performance
• Ensuring employee awareness of the OH&S policy and objectives
• Establishing internal and external communications relevant to the OH&S management system
• Ensuring the OH&S management system includes appropriately created and updated documented information as required by ISO 45001.

Clause 8: Operation

Clause 8 requires your business to establish, implement, control, and maintain the processes required to meet the objectives of your OH&S management system and to implement actions determined in clause 6. This clause covers two primary areas: operational planning and control, including hazard elimination and risk reduction, and emergency preparedness and response.

Clause 9: Performance Evaluation

Regular performance evaluations enable your top management to monitor, measure, analyse and evaluate the performance of your OH&S management system. This clause requires your leadership team to determine what needs to be monitored and measured and how to do so, including retaining appropriate documented information as evidence.

Your organisation will also need to establish processes for evaluating compliance with the ISO 45001 standard, conduct internal audits at regular and planned intervals to evaluate your OH&S management system, undertake management reviews at planned intervals to ensure its ongoing suitability, adequacy, and effectiveness and consider opportunities for improvement.

Clause 10: Improvement

Clause 10 requires your organisation to identify areas for improvement and implement actions to achieve the intended outcomes of your OH&S management system. 

This includes identifying nonconformities and taking corrective action, reviewing existing assessments of OH&S risks and other risks, and implementing actions to prevent the recurrence of a non-conformity.

Five Key Benefits of ISO 45001

ISO 45001-compliant organisations can better protect their workers and manage risks associated with occupational health and safety, but implementing the standard can also provide a broad range of benefits. Let’s explore five key advantages linked to ISO 45001 implementation:

1. Proactively Manage Risk

Enhancing your OH&S performance with ISO 45001 ensures that your organisation assesses and addresses risks and potential risks to health and safety. This enables you to reduce the number of workplace incidents and injuries and ensures that you have response protocols in place should an incident occur.

2. Improve Your Reputation

Compliance with ISO 45001 shows your commitment to ongoing OH&S performance improvement and worker health, safety, and well-being. Not only can this improve employee morale and retention, but it also positively reflects on your business to external stakeholders, potential investors, and prospective customers.

3. Comply with OH&S Regulations

Compliance and certification to ISO 45001 ensures your organisation meets its legal obligations to ensure the health, safety and welfare at work of employees, such as those required by the UK Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 and the US Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970. 

4. Increase Organisational Resilience

Developing emergency preparedness and incident response protocols in line with ISO 45001 requirements can enable your organisation to respond more effectively to safety incidents. In addition, continuous improvement is required in ISO 45001 – the plan, do, check, act framework helps ensure your organisation’s OH&S management system performance increases.

5. Lower Insurance Costs

Insurance providers often offer lower premiums to organisations that demonstrate a proactive approach to worker health, safety, and risk management. Building, maintaining and continually improving your OH&S management system allows you to demonstrate your commitment to employee safety and risk reduction.

Implementing ISO 45001 presents a key opportunity to enhance your organisation’s health and safety performance and secure its future success.

ISO 45001 Certification Requirements

The ISO 45001 standard sets forth specific requirements for establishing, maintaining and continuously improving a suitable occupational health and safety management system, which your organisation must demonstrate to achieve certification to the standard successfully. Essential requirements include:

1. 1. OH&S Policy: Organisations must establish, implement, and maintain a suitable occupational health and safety policy. It should be documented, communicated within the organisation, and available to interested parties, e.g., employees and stakeholders.
   2. OH&S Objectives: Your organisation must establish OH&S objectives to maintain and continually improve the OH&S management system and OH&S performance. These objectives should be consistent with your OH&S policy, measurable, monitored, communicated and updated as appropriate.

• Hazard Identification Processes: Your organisation must establish, implement, and maintain a process or processes for hazard identification. These processes must take into account how work is organised, social factors, leadership, organisational culture, routine and non-routine activities and situations, past relevant incidents, potential emergency situations, and other issues.

1. Emergency Preparedness and Response: The standard requires your organisation to establish, implement and maintain a process or processes needed to prepare for and respond to potential emergency situations. This includes establishing a planned response to emergency situations, providing worker training for the planned response, periodically testing planned response capability, evaluating performance, and communicating relevant information to workers, contractors, visitors and other relevant parties.
2. Monitoring, Measurement and Evaluation: To evaluate and continuously improve your organisation’s OH&S performance, you must consistently monitor, measure, analyse and evaluate your efforts. Your leadership team should establish what needs to be monitored and measured and how to do so, as well as criteria for evaluation and regular intervals for monitoring, measuring and evaluation. This allows you to evaluate your organisation’s environmental performance and the effectiveness of your OH&S management system.

Navigating Common ISO 45001 Challenges

Lack of Executive Buy-In: 

Securing executive buy-in can be difficult with an understandably busy leadership team. Success in securing top management commitment lies in demonstrating the value of ISO 45001 compliance for your business.

It’s vital to show how an effective OH&S can improve worker health and safety, compliance with mandatory health and safety regulations, and brand reputation. Buy-in from your top management team can also boost employee engagement and improve the effectiveness of your OH&S management system.

ISMS.online’s compliance solution, which comes with pre-configured templates, guides you through ISO 45001 requirements. With all of your documentation stored in the platform, you can streamline your internal and external audit processes. The platform’s simplicity can boost executive buy-in, ensuring simple ISO 45001 implementation and ongoing compliance.

Resource Constraints: 

A proactive approach to occupational health and safety can drive better business practices. Set your organisation up for success by sharing key benefits of OH&S management system implementation:

1. Build a comprehensive business case that outlines the costs, benefits, and implementation roadmap for ISO 45001, including how an effective OH&S can free up resources and reduce incidents.
2. Highlight the return on investment (ROI), the importance of an improved reputation and the long-term value it can bring to your business
3. Address any potential concerns or objections and provide solutions or mitigation strategies.

The ISO 45001 Auditing and Assessment Process

An ISO 45001 audit evaluates your organisation’s OH&S management system against the requirements laid out in the standard. Your audit will aim to assess the adequacy of your organisation’s processes, records, and documentation regarding the effectiveness of your OH&S management system. 

Types of Audits:

1. Internal Audits: Your organisation’s internal team conducts your internal audits. These audits provide an opportunity for self-assessment and help identify gaps and areas for improvement in your OH&S management system before you reach out to a certification body for your external audit.
2. External Audits: External audits are undertaken by independent third-party auditors or certification bodies. They evaluate your organisation’s OH&S management system against ISO 45001 requirements and provide a compliance assessment. External audits are essential for ISO 45001 certification, demonstrating your business’s commitment to worker health and safety best practices.

Best Practices for Successful ISO 45001 Audits:

1. Prepare Thoroughly: Thoroughly review the requirements shared in the ISO 45001 standard and ensure all necessary processes and documentation are in place
2. Engage Stakeholders: Involve relevant stakeholders throughout the audit process, including your top management team
3. Document Everything: Maintain detailed documentation of your organisation’s OH&S objectives, processes you are implementing to achieve your objectives, and OH&S management system monitoring, measurement and evaluation documentation. This provides evidence of your compliance to the ISO 45001 standard.
4. Continuous Improvement: Continuously monitor, evaluate, and improve your OH&S management system to ensure ongoing compliance with the ISO 45001 standard.

Achieving Ongoing ISO 45001 Compliance

Your ISO 45001 certification is valid for three years, with surveillance audits taking place at the end of year one and year two. Maintaining and improving your OH&S management system is key to ongoing success. Here are some vital elements to consider for maintaining ISO 45001 continual improvement:

1. Regular Audits: Conduct periodic internal audits to assess the effectiveness and suitability of your OH&S management system to identify areas for improvement.
2. Employee Training and Feedback: Continuously educate and train employees on their OH&S management roles and responsibilities, and ensure you have a worker consultation and participation process at all applicable levels and functions. 
3. Risk Identification: Undertake regular risk assessments, considering issues identified in Clause 4.1 that may impact your organisation’s ability to achieve the intended outcomes of your OH&S management system. 

You can also leverage a compliance platform to easily demonstrate your continuous compliance. A platform will keep all your evidence and documentation in one place and make it easily accessible to auditors.

Your Compliance Success Story Starts Here

If you want to bolster your sustainability, improve your internal processes and boost your reputation, ISMS.online can help. 

Our ISMS solution enables an easy, simple and secure approach to environmental management with ISO 45001. Unlock your competitive advantage today – book your demo.