Managing Health and Safety is very important in any workplace, Minimizing work-related injuries and illnesses is a major challenge for countries, managers, trade unions, and employees. ISO 45001 Implementation is very important in any Company because they should ensure that their work does not jeopardize the health and safety of their employees. A planned approach to managing workplace health and safety helps companies effectively protect their employees from work-related illness, injury, or even death.
Much has been written on the subject of occupational health and safety and the implementation of ISO 45001 in workplaces, but most of them seem to be aimed primarily at professionals who are already familiar with the concepts and requirements of this ISO standard. This Article is aimed at any individual or organization wishing to implement an effective health and safety management system. No assumptions are made about the prior knowledge of my readers. The Article is aimed not only at experienced professionals but also at people who have no experience with the structure and definitions of ISO 45001 or occupational health and safety management.
Introduction of ISO 45001
Over 2 million people worldwide die every year due to work-related accidents and illnesses, which correlates to over 6,000 deaths every day (International Labor Organization, 2020). Globally, there are around 340 million occupational accidents and 160 million victims of work-related injuries and illness each year (International Labor Organization, 2020). Occupational health and safety (OHS) is a major challenge for many organizations.
Organizations need to manage multiple aspects of their operations that require compliance with various standards, such as quality, health and safety, and the environment. As ISO standards become more prevalent, established organizations tend to apply multiple management system standards such as ISO 9001, ISO 14001, and OHSAS 18001 simultaneously.
For this reason, ISO has decided to use a structure called Annex SL (renamed Annex L in the 2019 edition) in the development of its standards, which consists of ten category clauses to facilitate the integration of these management systems. New versions of ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 following this new structure were published in 2015. However, OHSAS 18001 was replaced by ISO 45001, which was published in 2018. ISO 45001 is an internationally recognized framework for the management of occupational health and safety that corresponds to ISO Annex L and follows the same structure as other international standards.
What is ISO 45001 Standard?
The ISO (The International Organization for Standardization) was founded in 1947 as an independent non-governmental organization and is the largest standards organization with more than 160 members. Each member belongs to the national body that represents standardization in their country. Through its members, ISO brings together experts to share knowledge and develop standards that provide solutions to industrial and commercial challenges (ISO, 2021).
Launched in March 2018, ISO 45001 is part of the ISO 45000 family of standards. The ISO 45000 standards serve as a guide for organizations to improve the health and safety of workers in the workplace. Similar to other standards in the ISO family, ISO 45000 also has an auditable standard, ISO 45001. ISO 45001 is an internationally recognized standard that specifies the requirements for establishing, implementing, maintaining, and improving OHSMS. The OHSMS is a proactive framework that helps organizations protect people from work-related injuries and illnesses. It is intended to be used by organizations regardless of their size or industry.
ISO 45001 is based on the “Plan-Do-Check-Act” (PDCA) method and provides a process-oriented approach for documenting and reviewing the structure, responsibilities, and documented information required for effective health and safety management in an organization. PDCA is the concept of a continuous cycle whose main objective is to drive improvement.
ISO 45001:2018 Clause Table:-
| Clause – 1 | Scope |
| Clause – 2 | Normative references |
| Clause – 3 | Terms and defnitions |
| Clause – 4 | Context of the organisation |
| Clause – 5 | Leadership and Worker Involvement |
| Clause – 6 | Planning |
| Clause – 7 | Support |
| Clause – 8 | Operation |
| Clause – 9 | Performance evaluation |
| Clause – 10 | Improvements |
As shown in the above table, The first three clauses are introductory, the remaining seven clauses define the requirements of the ISO 45001:2018 standard and are assessed by the certification auditors. A brief introduction to these seven clauses follows. Each clause is then discussed in detail in the following chapters.
Clause 4 — Context of the organization:
This clause requires an organization to identify internal and external factors that may influence its strategic objectives and the needs and expectations of its interested parties to implement an effective OHSMS. It also defines the requirements for determining the scope and need for establishing, implementing, maintaining, and continually improving an OHSMS.
Clause 5 — Leadership and Worker Involvement:
One of the most important factors determining the success or failure of an organizational improvement is the commitment of managers and workers to the improvement. This clause is about ensuring the involvement of top management and managerial and non-managerial employees in the implementation of the ISO standard.
Top management must demonstrate their leadership and commitment to the OH&S management system by being accountable for the effectiveness of the OH&S management system, promoting continuous improvement, assigning roles and responsibilities, and communicating the OH&S policy.
Clause 6 — Planning:
This clause sets out the requirements for dealing with hazards, risks, opportunities, legal and other requirements, as well as the health and safety objectives and the planning required to achieve them.
Clause 7— Support:
To ensure that the OHSMS is aligned with the company’s other activities, companies should check that they have the right resources in place to achieve the desired outcomes. These resources include, for example, competent staff, sufficient documented information, and appropriate means of communication.
Clause 8 — Operations:
This clause deals with establishing operational controls to eliminate health and safety hazards, managing change, and preparing for and responding to emergencies.
Clause 9 — Performance evaluation:
The requirements in this clause highlight the importance of considering what, how, and when to measure the performance of the OHSMS and identifying the elements that influence the effectiveness of the system. Once the processes are in place, organizations should establish mechanisms for monitoring and measuring the performance of the OHSMS with the involvement of top management.
Clause 10— Improvements:
This clause describes the requirements necessary to improve the organization’s OHSMS over time by identifying problems and nonconformities, taking corrective actions to address those problems, and investigating and eliminating the causes of the nonconformities to prevent the recurrence of the problems. Continuous improvement is the most beautiful outcome of any management system. It is a mindset that shows that there is always room for improvement, no matter how well you think your organization is doing.
Also Read – OSHA Safety Violations: How to Control them?
How to Gain ISO 45001 Certification?
To be certified to ISO 45001, organizations must implement an OHSMS that meets the requirements of ISO 45001. Once the OHSMS is in place, organizations can contact a certification body to conduct certification audits. The certification body will assign a certification auditor (or a team of auditors) to verify the organization’s conformity with the requirements of ISO 45001:2018 through certification audits. ISO 45001 certification confirms that the organization has established and implemented an effective occupational health and safety management system, which builds stakeholder confidence and gives the organization a competitive advantage.
ISO 45001 certification audits are conducted in two stages. The first stage is the “readiness review”, where the auditors determine whether the organization has established an OHSMS and is ready for the second stage of the audit. In the first stage, the auditors review the organization’s documented information and site-specific conditions. The auditors also review the scope of the management system and collect information on processes, procedures, legal requirements, and the levels of control established by the organization.
The Stage 1 audit usually takes one to two days, depending on the size and complexity of the organization. Upon completion of the Stage 1 audit, the auditors prepare a final report stating whether the organization is ready to move to the next stage and identifying areas of concern that may be considered non-compliant for the Stage 2 audit.
Typically, auditors return a few months after the stage 1 audit (depending on the nature of the problem areas and the availability of auditors and auditees) to review the overall management system and confirm that all requirements of the standard have been met. Ideally, the auditors should have at least a three-month overview of the implementation of occupational health and safety at this stage. The stage 2 audit report will highlight any non-conformities identified by the auditors. Certification can only be granted once the organization has taken corrective action and this has been verified by the auditors.
These certification audits can be conducted on-site or remotely (also known as “virtual” audits). In an on-site audit, the auditors visit the organization’s sites and conduct the audit in person. The number of audit days depends on factors such as the size and complexity of the organization. This is the most common type of audit. However, the number of remote audits has increased significantly since 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Regardless of the type of audit, the audit process is the same and is based on the ISO 19011 standard. ISO 19011 is a guide for the auditing of management systems and guides the management of audit programs, the principles of auditing, and the assessment of the competence of persons involved in the audit process (ISO 19011:2018). As defined in ISO 19011, a standard audit program should include four phases.
An audit begins with an opening session where the auditors and the management team meet. The lead auditor chairs this meeting to agree on the audit plan with the auditees, introduce the audit team, and ensure that all audit activities can be carried out. This meeting usually lasts about 30 minutes. Senior management must attend either the opening or closing meeting (ideally both) to show their commitment to improving the organization.
After the opening meeting, the auditors conduct a documented information review, interviews, and an observation of the working environment to ensure that the organization has the systems in place to meet all the requirements of the ISO 45001:2018 standard. Competent auditors may focus on specific parts of the OH&S management system depending on their previous experience and the nature of the audited organization’s business. Some auditors will spend more time on risk assessment, others will focus on employee competence and training.
However, the entire management system must be audited. During the audit, the members of the audit team communicate regularly to exchange information, determine the progress of the audit, and redistribute the work among themselves (ISO 19011:2018). Communication may also be necessary between the audit team leader and the auditee to report on the progress of the audit, key findings, and concerns on matters outside the scope of the audit. If the audit evidence indicates that the audit objectives cannot be achieved, the audited entity is informed immediately to determine appropriate measures such as changing the audit plan, the audit scope, and the audit objectives or terminating the audit.
During the audit, the auditors collect evidence relevant to the audit objectives, scope, and criteria, including through interviews, observations, and a documented information review. The evidence obtained that leads to audit findings should be appropriately tested to demonstrate that the requirements are met. Where it is not practicable or cost-effective to examine all available information during the audit, auditors will perform sampling. Sampling is a process by which auditors conclude a large data set (population) by testing a selected subset of the population. However, sampling may affect the precision of audit conclusions because the samples identified may not fully represent the characteristics of the population.
Once the objective evidence is obtained, the auditors evaluate it against the audit criteria to identify the audit findings that may indicate compliance or non-compliance with the audit criteria. The discrepancies identified are discussed with the auditee to ensure that the evidence obtained is correct and the discrepancies are understood. Once the auditors have gathered sufficient information, they arrange a closing meeting in which they present the results and conclusions of the audit. In this meeting, the lead auditor briefly explains the audit focus, the extent of compliance with the audit criteria, the achievement of the audit objectives, the scope, and the fulfillment of the audit criteria.
The auditors describe the positive aspects of the auditee’s occupational health and safety management system and the opportunities for improvement (OFIs). If deficiencies are identified, the auditors explain the procedure that must be followed. However, if no significant non-conformities are found, the auditors inform the organization that they will recommend to the certification body that the organization meets the requirements of the ISO 45001:2018 standard and they will receive the certification.
How Much Cost to Spend for ISO 45001?
ISO Implementation Costs might vary in location and country wise, and depend on the size and nature of the organizations, If you need an estimation then it may be around $5000 to 15000$ but not limited to this cost might be different as per the above-written factor, You can consult them for more clarification of the certification money.
Conclusion
The implementation of ISO 45001 is an important step in ensuring the safety and well-being of employees in the workplace. By implementing this international standard, organizations can not only reduce the number of work-related accidents and illnesses but also improve their overall performance and reputation. The systematic approach that ISO 45001 offers to occupational health and safety management can lead to greater efficiency, cost savings, and regulatory compliance.
Companies must recognize the importance of prioritizing occupational health and safety in their operations. Start implementing ISO 45001 in your business today and benefit from a safer and healthier working environment for all employees.
Frequently Asked Questions:-
How do I implement ISO 45001?
ISO 45001 is based on the “Plan-Do-Check-Act” (PDCA) method and provides a process-oriented approach for documenting and reviewing the structure, responsibilities, and documented information required for effective health and safety management in an organization. PDCA is the concept of a continuous cycle whose main objective is to drive improvement.
What are the 7 steps for an effective ISO 45001 implementation?
Context of the organization, Leadership and Worker Involvement, Planning, Support, Operations, Performance evaluation, Areas for Improvements.
When was ISO 45001 implemented?
ISO 45001 Was Launched in March 2018.
What is the purpose of implementing ISO 45001?
Organizations need to manage multiple aspects of their operations that require compliance with various standards, such as quality, health, and safety, ISO 45001 is an internationally recognized framework for the management of occupational health and safety to minimize workplace accidents and compliance the international standards.
