Occupational health and safety with a system - OHSAS becomes ISO 45001

ISO 45001 is the new management standard for occupational health and safety. As the successor to the internationally established BS OHSAS 18001, ISO 45001 adopts key content and develops these approaches even further.

Every company is obliged to recognize and avoid health and accident risks for its employees. An occupational health and safety management system such as the new ISO 45001 provides a suitable basis for harmonizing strategic orientation and occupational health and safety.
It helps to establish internal structures and facilitate workflows, describes and plans processes and continuously improves the company's organization and performance through targeted measures. General and industry-specific requirements are defined by internationally valid standards such as ISO and form the basis for certification. In some industries, a management system such as ISO 45001 or ISO 9001 is a prerequisite for awarding contracts.

The ISO standards are all gradually being brought into the so-called High Level Structure. This means that they all follow the same structure. This also results in content requirements. In all management systems, greater emphasis is now placed on the analysis and inclusion of "interested parties" and "internal & external issues". In addition, risks and opportunities must be identified from the context analysis. By adapting to the high-level structure, the requirements of all standards can be better incorporated into an integrated management system (IMS) in future. This also applies to ISO 45001.

What is new? Compared to the old OHSAS, ISO 45001 is more comprehensive - both at the management and compliance level, as well as in terms of hazard identification and the inclusion of suppliers. While OHSAS 18001 was process-oriented and mainly looked at risks, ISO 45001 is process-oriented and includes the analysis of risks and opportunities. In contrast to the old standard, ISO 45001 focuses on the interaction of a company with its business environment and includes suppliers and all interested parties. No specific indicators are required for the planning of and compliance with measures, but rather the continuous review and improvement of self-defined KPIs.

The conversion from OHSAS to ISO takes place in two stages: An on-site readiness assessment (Stage 1 audit), in which the internal project plan for conversion and the changes to the management system are reviewed, and a full on-site system audit (Stage 2 audit). Certification marks the start of a new 3-year cycle. The transition is possible at any time. There is a three-year transition period for the changeover from OHSAS 18001 to ISO 45001. This ends on 12.3.2021.

We have summarized all the information for you in our ISO 45001 info paper.

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Image source: Photo by Ümit Yıldırım on Unsplash