About ISO 45001
ISO 45001 is the new international standard for the management of occupational health & safety, which takes a process-based approach to the management of safety risks. The new standard takes a much more strategic view than the out-going OHSAS 18001 and encourages you to take a top-down approach to managing safety. ISO 45001 which was released in 2018, has been written around the standard format for all new ISO standards, which is Annex SL. This means that it uses a predictable and tested structure.
Structure of ISO 45001
- Scope (what does this standard cover?)
- Normative References (what other standards are linked to this one?)
- Terms and Definitions
- Context of the Organization (what internal and external influences are important?)
- Leadership
- Planning
- Support
- Operation
- Performance Evaluation
- Continual Improvement
What should you be doing now to prepare for ISO 45001?
If you are certified to OHSAS 18001 you will need to update your systems according to the requirements of the new standard. This was originally within a three year period that ends in March 2021 but, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the dealine has been extended to the end of September 2021. Once it feels it is ready, you will have a assessment by yourcertification body against the new standard. This is known as “migration”.
We advise organisations with OHSAS 18001 to carry out a gap analysis against ISO 45001 and to start the transition to ISO 45001 as soon as possible. Bear in mind that you will still need to conform to OHSAS 18001 until the migration assessment by your Certification Body but, from our experience of ISO 9001:2015 and ISO 14001:2015, the two standards can easily be made to co-exist.
We have produced a gap analysis template, based on ISO 45001, to help you with the migration from OHSAS 18001, which is a free download from here: ISO 45001 gap analysis checklist
Please contact us if you want to discuss your migration or if you feel some expert help would make the process easier.
