ISO 45001 - Health & safety

Health and Safety is a critically important issue for all businesses. It has moved beyond simple compliance with the law and is now part of the Corporate Social Responsibility agenda. Poor Health and Safety performance means loss of reputation, loss of license to trade, lost business and huge extra costs. Good performance reduces costs and gives you competitive edge.   Whether you are an employee, a manager or a business owner, you share a common goal – you don’t want anyone to get hurt on the job. Improved productivity stems from ensuring people operate in workplaces that provide transparency and build trust throughout their operation and supply chain. In addition, responsible practices are becoming increasingly important to brands and reputations.   ISO 45001 is the new ISO standard for occupational health and safety (OH&S).   One of the biggest differences you’ll notice between OHSAS 18001 and ISO 45001 is how the standard is structured. The structure of ISO 45001 is based on the Annex SL framework. You might already be familiar with the Annex SL format if your organization follows other ISO standards, like ISO 14001 and ISO 9001. Having a common structure makes implementing multiple standards within one organization easier.   Regulators such as HSE (Health & Safety Executive) demand compliance with the broad and complex system of Health and Safety regulation. The risk assessment approach offers flexibility, but should the worst happen, evidence that the organisation has fulfilled its requirements will be needed. Fines or imprisonment on prosecution for health and safety offences continue to increase.   Other stakeholders such as liability insurers also have an interest in a well-managed Health and Safety systems in organisations. Insurance rates have been escalating recently and insurers are now much more selective. Access to insurance with reasonable terms and conditions can also be dependent on good Health and Safety performance, and the systems used to control and demonstrate it.   Problems and Benefits Construction is among the industries with the highest risk of fatal injuries. In recent years, along with agriculture, transportation and storage, it accounts for 60% of fatal injuries. Non-fatal accident rates continue to be a problem, having risen by 20% since 1997.   Absenteeism, business interruption and long term sickness all impact on a company’s profitability through lost time, sick pay and failure to complete contracts on time. In serious cases a manufacturer or construction site can be shut down while the reason for the accident is investigated by the HSE.   The uninsured costs of dealing with Health and Safety incidents, including management time and lost production are between 8 and 36 times the amount recoverable under insurance, not counting lost opportunities.   The ISO 45001 Standard ISO 45001 provides a structured framework by which a Company can identify and manage its Health and Safety risks.   Key Improvements ISO 45001 implements the ‘high level structure’, giving it a common framework with other management systems, such as ISO 9001 and ISO 14001.   ISO 45001 places great emphasis on the responsibility of senior management. This aspect has already been implemented in the revised ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 standards.   ISO 45001 explicitly includes persons who are not permanently employed, but are in other ways working under the responsibility of the organisation/company, such as subcontractors, as well as processes that have been outsourced in their entirety. In this way it incorporates elements of the SCC certificate.   The standard also introduces the term “opportunities”, as a new aspect in the field of occupational health and safety. This covers issues that go beyond the mere elimination or minimisation of OHS risks and hazards.   Why Certification to ISO 45001? To survive in today’s competitive global marketplace, organisations must proactively manage all types of risk to the business, and the issue of occupational health and safety is no exception. ISO 45001 will provide new impetus for occupational health and safety practices in organisations and will help improve safety for employees and contractors. This translates into additional opportunities for protecting and promoting worker’s health and performance, as well as a sustainable improvement of employee motivation.   It helps confirm that policies and procedures are in place to identify applicable legislation and regulatory requirements, and how these are implemented and maintained.   Through our work we have developed an in-depth industry knowledge in manufacturing and contracting activities for the construction, fire and security industries. Our certificates are maintained through regular assessment visits and are listed here on this website.