How to achieve ISO 45001 certification

ISO 45001 is the Standard for Occupational Health and Safety (OH&S). This internationally recognised standard provides organisations with a solution to better manage health and safety risks, while reducing associated costs.

Released in March 2018, the standard replaces OHSAS 18001 and allows management system integration with other ISO standards, which provides a more streamlined approach to multiple system management.

ISO 45001 offers a framework for managing risks and opportunities for businesses to aid in preventing worker diseases and accidents. Having ISO 45001 certification in place signifies complete compliance with the standard. Businesses can show their dedication to the health and welfare of employees and to ongoing safety improvement by pursuing ISO 45001 certification.

Some of the advantages of obtaining ISO 45001 certification include:

• Provides evidence of adhering to health and safety regulations
• Controls operational risk
• Boosts stakeholder assurance
• Protects your business
• Improves business and a competitive edge

Check out further benefits of implementing ISO 45001 in a recent article of ours here.

ISO 45001 Principles; How to achieve ISO 45001 certification

The management system methodology used by ISO 9001 and ISO 14001, including the high-level framework that aids in management system integration, is followed by the ISO 45001 standard.

The new OH&S standard uses the straightforward Plan-Do-Check-Act (PDCA) model, which gives a framework for businesses to plan what they need to put in place in order to limit the risk of damage. It is built on the common elements found in all of ISO’s management systems standards.

Compliant supports businesses across the nation by helping them to structure what documents they already have in place to comply with the standard and supplying template for documents that a business may not yet have in place. The framework that we recommend is as follows:

We implement a controlled strategy to optimise results, making risk analysis/management an explicit part of the system planning and implementation process. This process identifies issues with current operations as well as risks from starting new projects (including its application to groups that may have an impact on an organisation, such as suppliers, employees, distributors, local/national governments, etc.).

The management of health and safety through this standard is given priority with a focus on:

• Utilising the Plan>Do>Check>Act approach
• Identifying and controlling how each component of the plan affects the others
• Putting management initiatives in order of importance to the desired result
• Making sure that everyone is aware of their responsibilities and contribution to the standard
• Continual Improvement – including performance reviews

Legally, businesses must make sure that their workplaces are secure and conducive to employees performing their duties. The achievement of ISO 45001 certification is an indication of a company’s overall excellence in handling health and safety concerns. If you are a manager seeking certification for your company, understanding more about ISO 45001 certification and its specifications can help you get ready to discuss your organisation’s best health and safety practices.

What does achieving ISO 45001 certification entail?

The international standard for occupational health and safety, or ISO 45001, is a collection of rules that organisations must adhere to in order to protect their workers. The International Standards Organisation (ISO), a recognised organisation that hires health professionals to develop standards for occupational health and safety, offers ISO 45001 certification to a range of businesses.

Due to the fact that employees frequently look to management to enforce appropriate safety standards, ISO 45001 certification places a strong emphasis on a company’s management procedures.

The ISO 45001 certification shows that a company can safeguard employees from injury and meet their needs for physical and mental health. A company with an ISO 45001 certification often has the following characteristics:

• a strong organisational structure that puts employee safety first
• an organised, methodical, deliberate strategy to evaluate dangers and lessen potential employment risks
• Clearly stated objectives for improving the workplace

Compliant supports businesses in implementing ISO 45001 by offering certification consultancy services including a free GAP Analysis, the development of a professional management system that is bespoke to your business, a presence on audit and surveillance days and ongoing support. We have helped a range of businesses to achieve ISO 45001 including Atom Water Treatment, whose full case study can be viewed here.

Read on to discover how to achieve ISO 45001 certification.

The shift from OHSAS 18001 TO ISO 45001

Released in March 2018, the standard replaces OHSAS 18001 and allows management system integration with other ISO standards, which provides a more streamlined approach to multiple system management.

Both OHSAS 18001 and ISO 45001 strive to continuously improve through risk reduction while lowering deaths, injuries, and illnesses through a structured method to discovering, assessing, and controlling risk.

Instead of using a standards-based strategy, ISO 45001 assists users in managing risk as a business process. The ongoing improvement methodology is supported by the addition of opportunity management and risk management to ISO 45001, which is one of the key enhancements.

The four new areas covered by ISO 45001 are:

1. Organisational context

The company must investigate both internal and external issues that are pertinent to its goals and have an impact on its capacity to achieve the goals set forth in its ISO 45001 management system. Compliant can support businesses with these investigations and provide templates where needed.

2. Being aware of the requirements

Regulatory agencies, clients, staff, suppliers, subcontractors, and other interested parties are expected to meet certain standards. This must also be recorded and evidenced.

3. Risks and possibilities:

The management system’s ability to provide the desired goals as well as better health and safety at the business’ place of work must be carefully considered, worked out, and when necessary, put into action by organisations.

4. Commitment to management and leadership

Strong emphasis is placed on senior management’s active participation and responsibility-taking for the management system’s effectiveness. Everyone within a business must be aware of the company’s ISO certifications and understand their responsibilities and contribution to the standard.

Is ISO 45001 right for my business?

When considering how to achieve ISO 45001 certification it is worth reviewing whether ISO 45001 is the right standard for your business.

If your business needs to show that it is committed to managing employee and interested party safety, ISO 45001 is the best choice. If you already have a quality or environmental management system in place that is in line with the Annex SL framework, ISO 45001 can be seamlessly incorporated. Organisations using ISO 45001 require:

• transparent management structure with established lines of responsibility and power
• clearly specified improvement goals that provide demonstrable outcomes
• a methodical approach to risk evaluation and mitigation
• recordings of failures, performance, and trends in health and safety

Getting prepared for ISO 45001 Certification

Planning for ISO 45001 can be a daunting task. That is where we come in. We recommend:

• familiarising yourself with ISO 45001 goals
• Determining the main gaps in the requirements
• Creating and putting into action the required actions
• Preparing your documents

Become familiar with the 11 implementation success elements that ISO 45001 recommends. Your chances of success increase as you have a greater grasp of the “why” underlying safety management systems.

Adapt your system to it: Since ISO 45001 employs the same fundamental terminology as other systems like ISO 9001 for quality and ISO 14001 for environmental sustainability, you already have a strong foundation. It is significantly simpler to implement ISO 45001 if you are already familiar with these systems. To find out more about implementing an integrated management system contact our team.

Work together with key stakeholders: assist everyone in comprehending the significance and application of the standard, from the manual labourers manually constructing a project to the highest executives. Encourage individuals who support the concept to have open discussions with those who disagree with the change in order to comprehend their viewpoint.

Set milestones and prioritise tasks: The safety plan must then be brought into harmony with business metrics in order to establish goals. Make sure health and safety procedures increase earnings rather than decrease them because, over time, safety should result in financial savings.

In starting your safety management programme launching your project is the last phase, and you should continue to refine it as you gain more understanding of how it functions in practice.

The assessment process

How to achieve ISO 45001 certification and the assessment process. Here are the stages that you will be required to follow:

• Stage 1: Documentation review and readiness assessment
• Second stage: a site audit
• Bringing non-conformances into compliance
• ISO 45001 certification is given
• For the certification to remain valid, a yearly audit is necessary

Incident, Non-Conformity, and Corrective Action; everything you need to know

In order to create plans for remedial action, ISO 45001 mandates that businesses create processes for the investigation and reporting of all discovered nonconformities and OH&S events. Effectiveness is ensured and future improvement plans are aided by thorough documentation of all activities and issue resolution.

To advance with development, it’s critical to comprehend the distinction between instances and nonconformities.

Near misses, injuries, or damage to property or equipment are incidents that potentially endanger the health and safety of the worker. Action results in incidents.

When a team member disregards a safety requirement, nonconformities, which are particular to processes and procedures occur.

Nonconformities include, but are not limited to, disregarding or refusing to follow safety standards, breaking PPE regulations, and engaging in wilful disregard for safety,

Organisations must carefully watch team member conduct and working methods in order to spot events and nonconformities as soon as they occur. To encourage staff to constantly speak out for safety, they should also create a mechanism that allows all team members to report observations of nonconformities and risky activities.

A thorough investigation must be conducted when events or nonconformities are discovered, and cause, action, and effect logs must be maintained.

Terminology for ISO 45001

Certain words in ISO 45001 have been defined for clarity, including “Risk,” “The Worker,” “The Workplace,” and “Hazard Identification.”

Risk. In ISO 45001, the term “Risk” is defined universally because it has different connotations in different nations. The problem with hazard identification is that it is now very hardware- and manufacturing-oriented, even though more and more of us work in the services industry.

To make sure we cover all potential risks relevant to all companies and sectors, the terms “risk identification” and “risk control” are used to cover the term “hazard identification.”

The Employee. In the context of ISO, this phrase has distinct definitions in different nations, as well as varying legal restrictions.

The person conducting work or activities connected to work that are managed by the organisation is referred to as “The Worker.”

Workplace. This is now understood to be the location within the authority of the organisation where a person must be or travel in order to perform work-related duties.

How to achieve ISO 45001 certification with Compliant

Once you’ve implemented an ISO 45001 management system, certification is a reasonably simple process. The International Standards Organization (ISO) does not really provide certification; as a result, obtaining certification requires working with a recognised third party. The fundamental steps to becoming ISO 45001 certified are as follows:

• Create and implement a management system compliant with ISO 45001
• Plan an audit with a recognised outside party

The outside party must be a recognised certification body. We have partnerships with all of the major certification bodies and can pass cost savings directly onto clients.

To make sure you are in compliance, an auditor from your selected certification body will examine your procedures and implementation.

You must fix any compliance problems found during the audit, if necessary. Following this an ISO 45001 certificate will be given to you once you have satisfied all the requirements.

Many businesses decide to work with a consultant to help them with the implementation and certification of ISO 45001. The advantage of this strategy is that you’ll have a reliable source who is familiar with the details of the standard, saving you from having to figure everything out on your own.

Continuing to adhere to ISO 45001

Maintaining awareness of safety concerns and holding frequent management meetings to discuss risk assessment are crucial to making sure a business keeps up with safety regulations.

After a company receives ISO 45001 certification, the committee that gave the certification conducts annual partial audits to make sure the necessary health and safety requirements are still being followed. They may revoke certification if they discover that a workplace is no longer in compliance with the necessary requirements until they notice progress.

It is worth considering ongoing support with Compliant if you want to keep up to date with legislation and ensure that your management system is ready for surveillance audits.

Getting started with ISO 45001

Achieving a safe and dependable environment for employees and business stakeholders is made possible by implementing ISO 45001. The standard enables businesses and senior management to enhance their health and safety operations. Meeting the prerequisites guarantees that you’ll keep an eye out for trends and weigh your options. As a business with an ISO 45001 certification, you will take proactive measures to attempt and reduce the possibility of significant risks. It is crucial that organisations with significant physical demands, such factories and oil refineries, have an active OH&S management system in place because these organisations are more likely to suffer major injuries.

If you would like more information on how to get certified, we’d be happy to arrange a call to talk about your options. Alternatively, if you would like a quotation at any point just fill in our FREE quote calculator.