ISO 45001 OH&S Management Systems

On 12 March 2018, the International Accreditation Forum Inc. (IAF), in cooperation with the ISO and OHSAS Project Group, published the new international Occupational Health and Safety Management Systems standard, ISO 45001: 2018. The aim of ISO 45001 is to promote and protect the physical and mental health of workers, a responsibility held by any organization regardless of its size or sector.

According to the ISO, every 15 seconds a worker dies from a work-related accident or disease, and 153 people experience a work-related injury. These represent an enormous burden for organizations and society as a whole, with , over 2.3 million deaths a year, and more than 300 million non-fatal accidents.

Don’t become another statistic, ISO 45001 helps you protect your people.

After several years in development, ISO 45001 was published in March 2018 and will supersede OHSAS 18001 following a three year migration period. Organizations looking to achieve ISO 45001 can expect the following benefits:

• ISO 45001:2018 has been developed to integrate with other recently revised management systems standards such as ISO 9001: 2015 and ISO 14001: 2015. It adopts the Annex SL a high-level structure, identical core text, and terms and definitions.
• A risk-based approach assures effectiveness and undergoes continuous improvement
• A focus on the involvement of leadership, and leadership commitment to improve workplace conditions
• Employees will take a more active role in OH&S implementation and compliance, helping to reduce time and costs related to accidents or ill health
• Being certified to ISO 45001 will help organizations demonstrate to its customers, stakeholders and employees a robust OH&S system, which in turn will build a positive reputation
• Improved processes for identifying operational hazards and risks
• Advanced procedures for managing legal documentation and expectations
• Successful monitoring and measurement of on-site and off-site processes

ISO 45001 draws on OHSAS 18001, so if you are already certified to OHSAS the migration process should be straightforward. At Auva, we understand that each organization has a bespoke set of requirements, therefore you will be assigned a specialist auditor in your field that can help guide you through.

Preparatory activity can include

• Identifying organisational gaps which need to be addressed
• Developing an implementation plan
• Providing appropriate internal training and awareness
• Updating existing OHSMS to meet the revised requirement and providing verification of effectiveness.

SSIP was founded in May 2009 following the Government report on Accelerating the SME economic engine: through transparent, simple and strategic procurement. Supported by the HSE SSIP aims to streamline pre qualification and encourage straightforward mutual recognition between its Member Schemes.

There are many health and safety management systems in the market and organizations are often asked to be members of each even though the requirements are substantially the same; ISO 45001, CHAS, Safe Contractor and Construction Line all typically look at the same elements. SSIP was established to remove the need to have more than one health and safety management system in place. If you have one of the schemes along with an SSIP then you should not be required to attain any of the others, they are mutually recognizable by buyers.

The SSIP Forum will:

• Encourage and maximise mutual recognition between SSIP member schemes where it is practicable to do so.
• Operate a robust and consistent Deemed to Satisfy (DtS) agreement between SSIP member schemes that is clear and transparent.
• Provide confidence in first stage safety capability assessments by developing the SSIP core criteria and ensuring a consistent, reliable and quality-controlled standard of assessment via qualified, competent, assessors.
• Help and encourage buyers to recognise SSIP and its aims and objectives, and to specify and recognise SSIP member schemes in general, rather than a specific scheme provider.
• Help buyers and suppliers to achieve value for money through avoiding unnecessary duplication or differing Health & Safety assessment requirements, wherever possible.
• Demonstrate savings made to buyers and suppliers as a result of SSIP activity.
• Promote appropriate core criteria in non-construction works.
• Promote the work and value of SSIP.
• Actively encourage the standardisation of prequalification criteria including PAS 91, and other common industry standards.