Management

Sep 11, 2019

The adoption of ISO 45001 was a watershed moment for occupational safety and

 health (OSH) management systems. This

standard provides organizations a structure around which they can work to prevent
workplace injuries, illnesses and fatalities.
What is ISO 45001?
ISO 45001 is a global standard for occupational safety and health management
systems that provides practical solutions for worker safety. It helps create a global
foundation of worker safety standards and inspections that can be used in global supply
chains across all industries.
What Does ISO 45001 Do?
This standard provides a framework from which OSH objectives can be effectively
managed. For example, it serves the needs of those who manage, use or benefit from
global supply chains. Just as ISO 9000 and ISO 14000 have provided consensus
solutions to questions of quality management and environmental protection in the global
marketplace, ISO 45001 helps drive solutions for improving worker safety across the
globe. 
In this time of change for the standards community, you may be asking yourself, “What
do I do next?” The steps below outline the measures that you can take to implement
ISO 45001.

1. Understand OSH Management Systems

and ISO 45001
The first step in implementing ISO 45001, or any standard for that matter, is
understanding its purpose and how it can benefit your organization.

“Start by building your knowledge on what a management system is and how you can
leverage it to benefit workers as well as the organization to improve safety and health
performance and risk management,” says Vic Toy, CSP, CIH, chair of the U.S.
Technical Advisory Group (TAG) on ISO 45001.

Then, take time to familiarize yourself with the requirements of ISO 45001. The
standard provides 11 success factors for the implementation of an OSH management
system that can guide you.  

With deeper knowledge of OSH management systems and ISO 45001, you can develop
a strong business case for why your organizations should implement the standard. By
understanding ISO 45001 requirements, you gain insight into the impact the standard
could have on your company’s bottom line and can communicate that to executives.

“OSH professionals need to understand the business impact of the integration of this
standard on commercial excellence,” says Kathy Seabrook, CSP, CFIOSH, EurOSHM,
vice chair of the U.S. TAG on ISO 45001. “It is a competitive advantage, and
organizations that understand how to leverage it will outperform their competitors.”

2. Examine Your Current System

To understand how ISO 45001 will fit into a safety management system, it is important
to examine what standards and systems are already in place. For example, some
organizations have adopted ISO 9001 (quality) and ISO 14001 (environment), which
contain the same core language as ISO 45001. If your organization is already using ISO
9000 and ISO 14001 and is familiar with this management system approach, integration
of 45001 becomes much less complex and the transition can be made more
seamlessly.

3. Engage Stakeholders
Implementing ISO 45001 could lead to organizational change. And as with any change,
individuals and groups will be affected in a variety of ways. Some may be in favor of the
change, while others may be opposed. Gather input from the entire organization and
understand the different perspectives that people have about safety and health risks.

“Based on an understanding of different perspectives,” says Toy, “you will have a good
place to start to conduct a gap analysis based on not just the requirements in the
standard but your objectives.”

Beyond gathering information on different perspectives, engaging with stakeholders

also helps foster a culture where everyone feels a sense of ownership in the safety
management system.
“This is an opportunity to develop leaders within an organization,” explains Seabrook.
“From the worker who is building the bridge, or the electrician performing the
lockout/tagout, all the way up to the board of directors, ISO 45001 establishes that
everyone has a role, a responsibility and ownership of safety through an accountability
system.”

It is also crucial at this stage to engage leadership and educate them on why they may
want to implement ISO 45001. Explain to executives the operational and financial
impacts of implementing such a system so they can make an informed decision.

4. Determine Priorities and Establish Goals

With the information gathered from engaging stakeholders, you can begin to determine
priorities for your organization’s OSH management system, as well as the safety and
business performance goals the organization hopes to achieve through the
implementation of ISO 45001.  

Organizations can then align the implementation of the standard with business
objectives. Identifying business objectives in terms of occupational safety and health
and aligning them to ISO 45001 allows business to identify metrics by which they can
measure the success of their OSH management system, and make adjustments and
improvements over time.

5. Establish or Improve Your OSH

Management System
By following these first four steps, you can develop an OSH management system that is
customized to your organization or improve on an existing system. This process will
also help you bring together a team that can execute the plan. With ISO 45001 in place,
your team can then track performance against the goals and objectives that have been
identified to continuously improve both safety and business performance across your
entire organization.