ISO 45001:2018 Occupational Health and Safety Management System
What is ISO 45001?
Not only in our country but also all over the world, workers lose their lives, get injured or become disabled due to occupational accidents. In this regard, legal regulations are enacted one after another, official inspections are increased and sanctions are imposed on enterprises to take the necessary precautions. However, although the rate of occupational accidents and occupational diseases has decreased, it is still not completely prevented.
Today, while businesses operate within the framework of legal regulations, they also take into account the standards published by domestic and foreign organizations. Businesses apply the OHSAS 18001 Occupational Health and Safety Management System standard in order to identify and manage the hazards and risks that may arise in occupational health and safety.
However, the International Standards Organization (ISO) has initiated the development of a new standard on occupational health and safety, taking into account the proposal made by the OHSAS project group. Initiated in 2004, this standard was published in March 2018 after the draft studies were approved and the general articles were accepted.
What are the Differences with OHSAS 18001?
The main structure of the ISO 45001 standard consists of 10 articles in accordance with the recent amendment to the ISO 9001 standard. The basic approach of the standard is to create a framework for businesses to reduce the risks of the working environment, increase the safety of employees and create more reliable working conditions. Especially in small businesses, the ISO 45001 standard allows only one person to be responsible for occupational health and safety and environmental issues. In addition, this standard draws the top management of the business more into the system. The issue of leadership is addressed more in the occupational health and safety system.
In addition, the ISO 45001 standard places more emphasis on improving occupational health and safety performance by taking measures in advance than the OHSAS 18001 standard. The purpose of the OHSAS 18001 standard is to enable the organization to control its risks and improve its performance in this regard. The purpose of the ISO 45001 standard is to enable the organization to improve its performance and prevent injuries and illnesses by taking precautions in advance.
The ISO 45001 standard focuses more on risk management and continuous improvement. For this reason, the standard includes articles related to businesses, suppliers and contractors, and performance evaluations are more involved.
Transition from OHSAS 18001 Standard to ISO 45001
Businesses with an OHSAS 18001 certificate were required to switch to the new standard, the ISO 45001 standard, within three years from the effective date of the new ISO 45001 standard (March 2018). Today, OHSAS certificates are no longer valid. ISO 45001 certificates are used instead.
Key Areas and Organizational Structure
ISO 45001 emphasizes the organizational structure of businesses. This standard requires businesses to consider the expectations of their stakeholders on occupational health and safety. In this context, it is the responsibility of the enterprise to determine which parties the implemented OHSMS concerns and what the obligations of these parties are.
ISO 45001, which also sheds light on how occupational health and safety should be managed towards employees, aims to ensure that the business fully understands the important factors that can have a positive or negative impact.
These important factors are those that directly affect the ability of the business to achieve its objectives. These factors include the objectives set for the OHSMS to achieve the conditions required by the OHS policy.
Benefits of ISO 45001
A Healthier and Safer Workplace
ISO 45001:2018 aims to reduce the estimated 2.78 million work-related deaths and 374 million non-fatal injuries that occur each year according to the International Labour Organization (ILO), encouraging employee participation in efforts to prevent accidents and diseases and improve well-being.
Maximize Productivity
With a systematic process to keep your workforce healthy, manage ever-changing risk profiles and minimize ‘downtime’ for optimal daily output.
Global Recognition
ISO 45001 sets a new standard that raises the bar for occupational health and safety, giving suppliers a competitive advantage in tendering processes for global contracts.
Easy Integration
The ISO health and safety standard complies with Annex SL, the same High Level Structure as ISO 9001:2015 (quality management systems) and ISO 14001:2015 (environmental management systems); you can integrate it into a more comprehensive Business Management System as it provides simpler ‘management system auditing’.
Who Can Use / Apply ISO 45001 Standard?
The ISO 45001 Occupational Health and Safety Management System Standard can be adopted by any organization wishing to implement a formal procedure to reduce, eliminate or minimize risks to health and safety for employees, customers and the public in the workplace. As a general standard, it can respond to the needs of organizations of all sizes and sectors.