What Do You Need To Know About ISO 45001 Compliance?
A new standard of Occupational Health & Safety Management System – ISO 45001 aims to help organisations minimise workplace hazards, improve working conditions, standardise and integrate regulatory requirements into the workplace system.
The ISO 45001 is an international standard that specifies the requirements for a safety management and occupational health system. The guidelines for its use improve proactive mind towards the performance of the SST in the prevention of injury and illness. Importantly, ISO 45001 is applicable to any organisation, regardless of its size, type, and nature. All your requirements are intended to be integrated into the management of your own organisation.
Background: Health & Safety Management
The ISO standard is determined by the large number of international versions that exist of OHSAS 18001, with the intention of harmonising the Occupational Safety and Health Management Systems throughout the world using the ISO 45001 standard.
The OHSAS 18001 standard will not be automatically replaced by ISO 45001 but will remain valid as long as the reference manager keeps it current. Those organisations that have a certified management system under the OHSAS 18001 standard can maintain and renew their certificate after the publication of the ISO 45001 standard and they can be certified with the new ISO 45001 when they explicitly request it.
The new ISO 45001, pursues the same main objective as OHSAS 18001, which is to prevent occupational risks and those related to health within organisations and introduce certain new features. This novelty in the ISO field will continue with the work of OHSAS 18001, applied to prevent occupational risks and to protect the safety and health of workers, in line with continuous improvement.
How will the ISO 45001 standard affect health & safety?
The ISO 45001 standard has the same structure as all the standards of the Quality and Environment Management System. Although the purpose of the standard is the same as that of OHSAS 18001, there are changes in the structure of requirements that will cause many organisations that are certified in accordance with OHSAS 18001 to adapt the systems to the new ISO 45001. The changes with respect to OHSAS 18001 are the following:
· Context of the organisation
This is referred to establish internal and external factors that may impact the business of the company, for example, the change in labor relations, new technologies, new materials or issues that come from within or outside the organisation since they can change all the processes of the organisation. These changes can introduce new risks in the business, so it is necessary to detect them and find sufficient tools to establish how the risks can be controlled in the Health and Safety Management System.
· Leadership
This standard reinforces the role of senior management in the leadership of the Health & Safety Management System. It is the responsibility of senior management to establish policies and objectives. Other components such as employees and staff within the Safety & Health at Work Management System will also be present in the leadership element.
· Documented information
It is as traditionally referred to in management systems. However, in the world in which we live most companies have smartphones, tablets or PDAs. What is sought is not information, but a way of processing said information since, from the point of view of the Health & Safety Management System, the correct implementation of the said process must be ensured.
· Preventive action
The reason for the loss of the idea of preventive action is the structure of Annex SL which presents the concept that the company has to examine its business risks in the development of its Occupational Health and Safety Management System and use it as a tool to prevent the risk from occurring. In other words, given that an Occupational Health and Safety Management System is being used under ISO 45001 to be capable of controlling risks, it is reflected that the management system itself is a good prevention tool.
ISO 45001: Objective of the OHS Management System
A company must be responsible for the safety and health of its employees at work, according to the ISO 45001 2018, and other people who may be affected by the activities they perform. This responsibility includes the promotion and protection of health, whether physical or mental.
Adopting an Occupational Health and Safety Management System aims to allow a company to provide safe and healthy workplaces, prevent injuries and health deterioration, relate to work and continuously improve the performance of the workplace.
The purpose of an Occupational Health and Safety Management System provides a framework for managing risks and opportunities for occupational safety and health. The main objective and the results obtained are for the prevention of injuries and deterioration of health that is related to work and provides safe and healthy workplaces. It is very important for the company to eliminate hazards and minimise the risks of occupational safety and health according to effective prevention and protection measures. When a company applies all these measures through an Occupational Health and Safety Management System, it improves performance. It may be much more effective and efficient when you take early actions to address opportunities for improving health and safety performance at work.
It is necessary that a management system is implemented according to the document of ISO 45001 2018, facilitating the improvement of performance. The management system, for instance, Safety Management App, helps the company to comply with all legal obligations and other requirements.
ISO 45001: What are the success factors?
The implementation of a management system according to ISO 45001 2018 is a strategic and operational decision for the company. The success of the management system will depend on leadership, commitment, and participation from the different levels and functions of the company.
The implementation and maintenance of a management system, its effectiveness and its ability to achieve expected results depends on different key factors, which may include:
· The leadership, commitment, responsibility and accountability of senior management.
· Top management carrying out and promoting a culture in the company that supports the different results expected in the management system.
· Communication.
· Consultation and participation of employees and, when they exist, the representatives of employees.
· Assigning the necessary resources to maintain it.
· The policies of safety and health at work.
· Efficient processes to identify hazards, control risks and take advantage of opportunities for safety and health at work.
· The continuous performance assessment and monitoring to improve the performance of safety and health at work.
· Integrating the management system with the business processes of the company.
· The objectives of occupational safety and health should be aligned with the safety and health policy.
· Compliance with legal requirements.
The demonstration of the successful implementation of this document can be used by a company to assure employees and other interested parties that an efficient Occupational Health and Safety Management System has been put in place. The adoption of this document does not guarantee the prevention of injuries and the deterioration of health related to work for employees, the provision of safe and healthy workplaces or the improvement in the performance of safety and health at work.
The level of detail, the complexity, the extent of the documented information and the resources necessary to ensure the success of the management system of a company depends on different factors, such as:
· The context of the company.
· The scope of the occupational health and safety management system of the company.
· The nature of the activities of the company and the associated risks for health and safety at work.
It is necessary that a management system is implemented according to the document of ISO 45001 2018.
Plan-Do-Check-Act Cycle
The approach of the occupational health and safety management system applied in the document is based on the concept of planning, doing, verifying and acting. The concept of PDCA is a process used by companies to achieve continuous improvement. It can be applied to a management system and each of the individual elements, such as:
Plan: determine and evaluate the risks for health and safety at work, set objectives of occupational safety and health and the processes necessary to achieve results according to the company’s safety and health policy.
Do: implement the processes as planned.
Verify: monitor and measure the activities and processes regarding the policy and objectives of occupational safety and health, and report on the results.
Act: it is necessary to take action to continuously improve the performance of safety and health in the workplace.
The document of ISO 45001 2018 incorporates the concept of PDCA.
Content of the document
The document conforms to the requirements of ISO for ISO 45001 2018 standards. Requirements include a high-level structure, identical essential text, and common terms with essential definitions, designed to benefit users by implementing multiple ISO standards of systems.
The document does not include specific requirements for other topics, such as those related to quality management, social responsibility management, environmental management, physical security management or financial management, although its elements can be aligned or integrated with other systems of management.
The document contains requirements that can be used by a company to implement an occupational health & safety management system and to assess compliance. A company wishing to demonstrate compliance with the document can:
· Carry out self-determination and self-declaration.
· Search for confirmation of compliance by parties that have an interest in the company, as customers.
· Look for the confirmation of your self-declaration by an external party to an external company.
The effectiveness and efficiency of a Health & Safety Management System are essential to achieve the objective of reducing and preventing workplace accidents. To not lose efficiency or adeptness, we can resort to the automation of it through tools such as OHS Assist. This Safety Mobile App is designed in a way that responds to each of the requirements contained in ISO 45001, achieving excellent results and making Health & Safety Reporting significantly functional.