ISO 45001 Occupational Health and Safety

What is ISO 45001?

ISO 45001 Standard specifies requirements for an occupational health and safety (OH&S) management system.

The goal of ISO 45001 standard is to provide a safe and healthy workplace for employees and visitors. To achieve this, it is necessary to control all factors that might result in illness, injury, or in certain cases death. ISO 45001 covers all of these aspects and provides guidance on how to mitigate conditions which may lead to adverse effects on employee’s or visitors’ health or safety.

Why have an ISO 45001 Certification?

As per data given by International Labour Organization, more than 7600 people die from work-related accidents or diseases every single day. In Australia, 3,751 workers have been killed in work-related incidents between 2003 and 2018. According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics Work Related Injuries Survey, in 2017–18 more than 560,000 people were estimated to have had a work-related injury or disease

ISO 45001 standard was established by an ISO committee of occupational health & safety experts to ensure that that three million valuable lives  are saved each year.

Workplace Health and Safety has gained importance over recent years with state governments establishing stringent requirements related to worker’s health and safety. Having certification to ISO 45001 is a prerequisite in most government tenders.

Work-related health issues and injuries due to the nature of work or accidents can have a significant impact on an organization’s productivity and result in financial loss for the business. Direct costs involve productivity loss due to downtime, fines or insurance premiums or cost incurred on damaged equipment, replacement staff and other resources. While this direct cost is tangible,  the effects this can have on employee morale, which is not tangible, causes significant loss to the business. Low motivation levels of employees can reduce overall employee productivity and result in high employee turnover.

Another indirect loss that organizations face is the loss of customers who are concerned with the company’s reputation and may not like to work with a company with a high number of workplace injuries and health concerns. Additionally, some countries may also have strict regulations with regard to employee’s health and safety which, if not followed, may lead to strict fines or other legal actions.

This is where ISO 45001 steps in. ISO 45001 is an internationally renowned standard for occupational health and safety designed to help organizations build safe workplaces for their employees.

What are the Benefits of ISO 45001?

ISO 45001 presents numerous benefits. Few of them are listed below:

• Improves an organization ability to meet regulatory requirement
• Reduce the cost of unforeseen incidents and non-conformities
• Improves employee motivation and reduces absenteeism
• Reduces employee turnover rates
• Increases trust of customers with certification achieved
• Reduce the cost of insurance premiums

What does ISO 45001 Mean for your Business?

Organizations that have implemented ISO 45001 are regarded as a safe place to work and is recognized by customers who are concerned about their social responsibility. Apart from this, your business will benefit by overall reduction of incidents which not only reduce costs involved, but also reduce downtime and cost of disruption to operations. Furthermore, your cost of insurance premiums are reduced. Employee turnover rates improve and reduces absenteeism from work. Your organization also respond better to regulatory compliance issues.

Steps in Developing ISO 45001 Health and Safety System

1. Business review – our consultant will review and assess to identify safety hazards
2. System development

• • controls to mitigate risks will be put into place
  • Procedures for continuously identifying, recording, managing and analysing safety-related data will be implemented
  • Controls will be put into place to prevent accidents and incidents and ensure that hazards, incidents, and accidents are identified, investigated and addressed.

2. Implementation – your consultant will provide clear instructions how to implement the system in your business
3. Internal audit – your consultant will conduct an internal audit to ensure that you are ready for certification
4. Certification

Read more about our ISO 45001 methodology

Who can be Certified to ISO 45001?

Any organization can implement ISO 45001 regardless of its size, type and nature. Also note that organizations may be required by applicable legal requirements to also address workers health and safety.