Importance of ISO 45001

Employers are responsible for the health and safety of their employees. ISO 45001:2018 is a reliable standard that can help reduce work-related risk for workers such as occupational accidents and diseases if properly implemented and maintained. This standard directly impacts workers within the organization and it’s up to the top management to commit to this initiative.

Management needs to ensure that resources are provided for the Occupational Health and Safety Management System (OHSMS). Both the leaders and workers have to work together in order to create an effective OHSMS. Leaders provide resources such as time, money, and information while workers are tasked to relay data on workplace risks and hazards. Employees can help think of recommendations to reduce these identified risks. Management will then have to use risk assessment tools such as a 3×3 risk matrix, 4×4 risk matrix, or 5×5 risk matrix when making decisions for mitigating or eliminating safety hazards.

Additionally, this standard can help prevent costs from possible litigation, insurances, hospital bills, among others and also enhance the safety culture of the business.

ISO 45001:2018 Requirements

Here are the documented information required by the ISO 45001:2018 standard, separated per clause:

Legal requirements will vary depending on your local governments. Be sure to check if there are any occupational health and safety regulations in your area and document the requirements as stated in the 6th clause. Once this has been established, identify how these requirements affect your OHS management system and organization.

7 Steps for an Effective ISO 45001 Implementation

To create an effective ISO 45001 plan it has to be simple and there should be little additional documentation involved for the OHS plan. Here are the seven simple steps that your organization can follow:

1. Determine the external and internal influences – This is important when determining the needs of your stakeholders and allows the management to set the scope of the OHS management system.
2. Leaders and workers set the policy and assign roles and responsibilities – Both parties are integral when creating the occupational health and safety plan. Assign roles and responsibilities during this step.
3. Plan to identify and mitigate the risks – There are multiple methods and tools available, the risk matrix is highly recommended for identifying risks. During this step, legal and other requirements should be taken into account.
4. Determine the support needed – This will depend on the plan created in the previous step. Allocate necessary resources to control the risks.
5. Operational implementation – Leaders have to manage changes and be ready for an emergency situation.
6. Perform evaluations, audits, and reviews – A regular evaluation can uncover repetitive incidents and additional risks that weren’t seen during the planning process. An audit will ensure that issues will be accounted for and compliance is maintained.
7. Continuously improve and follow through – The organization should follow and improve the ISO 45001 plan continuously. This is a key step for a safe work environment with a culture of safety. Employers should also regularly remind and train employees about the occupational health and safety plan and procedures.

Throughout this process, OHS can also be controlled by using the hierarchy of controls. The hierarchy of controls is a system typically used for reducing and eliminating hazard exposure. Commonly, there are 5 factors in this hierarchy as provided by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH):

1. Elimination – removing the hazard
2. Substitution – replacing the hazard
3. Engineering Equipment – isolating people from the hazard
4. Administrative controls – change the work process
5. Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) – provide workers with protective gear

There is an additional level, Isolation, which comes after substitution but isn’t recommended by leading OHS organizations. The isolation method is also unnecessary since engineering equipment’s purpose is to do the same. Hierarchy of controls is a method to control risks. The control methods, as provided by the CDC, should be used from the top to the bottom, the top being the most effective and protective. Move to the next method if the current method is exhausted or isn’t able to reduce the risk. For example, if the elimination method isn’t possible or isn’t able to control the risk, management should move to substitution and so forth until risks are substantially reduced.