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ISO 45001 Occupational Health & Safety Management System

Overview of ISO 45001 Occupational Health and Safety Management System (OH&SMS)
ISO 45001 is a management system standard published by International Organization for Standardization (ISO).
Evolution of ISO 45001 Occupational Health and Safety Management System (OH&SMS)
Year   Happening
1760 - Prior to the Industrial Revolution in 1760, it was the norm for people to make a living through agriculture or through making and selling products and goods from home.
With the new and fast developments in machinery and manufacturing processes, the world began to move towards a society fuelled by mass production and the factory system.
People began to flock to the cities because of increased opportunities for work in the new mills and factories.
With the vast number of people looking for work, coupled with the high demand for cheap labour, led to poor pay, hazardous factory conditions, working hours were long, working conditions were dangerous, with many losing their lives at work.
And also an increase in child labour work was particularly dangerous for children who would work from as young as four and sometimes over 12 hours a day.
Many were used to climbing under machinery which would often result in loss of limbs and digits, while others were crushed and some decapitated.
A lack of health and safety makes people vulnerable to dangerous work conditions and exposure to poisonous and toxic materials and substances also meant that many people would develop occupational diseases and illnesses and die.
An outcry over this devastation led to the need for the introduction of many occupational health and safety regulations.
Before 1999 - Before 1999, there were many standards and specifications for managing safety and health in the workplace:
  1. NSAI SR 320, Recommendation for an Occupational Health and Safety (OH and S) Management System – National Standards Authority of Ireland (NSAI).
  2. AS/NZ 4801, Occupational health and safety management systOH&S – Specification with guidance for use – Standards Australia (SAA).
  3. Occupational Health and Safety Management System: An AIHA Guidance Document – American Industrial Hygiene Association (AIHA).
  4. OHSMS:1997, Standard for Certification of Occupational Health and Safety Management SystOH&S – Det Norske Veritas (DNV) of Norway.
  5. SafetyCert, Occupational Safety and Health Management Standard – Bureau Veritas Quality International (BVQI) France.
  6. SGS & ISMOL ISA 2000:1997, Requirements for Safety and Health Management SystOH&S – SGS Yarsley International Certification Services and International Safety Management Organisation Ltd. (ISMOL) of Great Britain.
  7. LRQA SMS 8800, Health & safety management systOH&S assessment criteria – Lloyds Register Quality Assurance (LRQA).
  8. NPR 5001:1997, Guide to an occupational health and safety management system –Nederlands Normalisatie-instituut (NNI) of the Netherlands.
  9. BSI PAS 088, Occupational health and safety management systOH&S – BSI.
  10. UNE 81900, Standards on the prevention of occupational risks – Asociación Española de Normalización y Certificación (AENOR) of Spain.
  11. Management Principles for Enhancing Quality of Products, Occupational Health & Safety and the Environment – Norges Standardiseringsforbund (NSF) of Norway.
The proliferation of these OHSMS specifications and standards, each of which was proprietary and unique to a standards body or registrar, created confusion in the marketplace.
An international collaboration called the Occupational Health and Safety Assessment Series (OHSAS) Project Group was formed to create a single unified approach.
1999 - As a result, in 1999 OHSAS 18001 was published.
2007 - OHSAS 18001 was updated in July 2007.
2018 - ISO 45001:2018 standard was published.
Since the publication of the International Standard for Occupational Health and Safety Management System, OHSAS 18001 standard was cancelled and replaced by ISO 45001:2018.
2021 - The companies and organizations which were certified to OHSAS 18001 were given a grace period of 3 years to migrate to ISO 45001.
As of March 2021, companies and organizations should have migrated to ISO 45001 to retain a valid certification, although ISO has extended the transition period for up to six months (to 11 September 2021) for organizations adversely affected by COVID-19.
Who Should Use ISO 45001?
  1. Organizations of all types and sizes and natures can implement ISO 45001 OH&SMS.
    It does not matter what size your organization is:
    • Any organisation with as few as 2 persons to as large as million persons can benefit from ISO 45001 OH&SMS.
    The key to ISO 45001 is no matter what size is the organization, is designed to aid all and companies of all sizes can benefit from it. The standard was designed to benefit any organisation, regardless of its size, type or nature.
    It does not matter what industry you are in:
    • Any organisation in service or manufacturing, profit or non-profit organisation, private or public or government can implement ISO 45001 OH&SMS.
    ISO 45001 is for any organization in any industry especially if the work involves great physical challenges; oil refineries, construction, factories, warehouses, etc., that require to take great care to implement effective health and safety solutions for workers' safety.
  2. It is for any organization to ensure while the job is dangerous by nature, necessary steps have been and are being taken to make the workplace as safe as possible for employees and contractors.
  3. ISO 45001 is indisputable for any organization that cares and will have the employees’ interest at heart, and all the precautionary measures have been taken to ensure their safety.
  4. ISO 45001 is for any organization whose aim is to reduce workplace injuries and illnesses.
  5. Any organization that would want parties to trust that you are acting upon the best practices of health and safety at the workplace and giving you added trust in your capabilities and forward thinking.
  6. ISO 45001 is for any organization whose employee protection matters to them and wants to provide a safe and reliable environment for their employees.
  7. Any organization that wants to see fewer or even zero workplace injuries and illnesses that would increase its productivity by manifolds.
  8. ISO 45001 is for any organization that wishes to reduce worker's insurance premiums.
  9. Any kind of organization for which ISO 45001 may be a legal or contractual requirement.
  10. Any organization that wants to establish, implement, operate, and maintain an occupational health and safety management system.
  11. Any organization that needs to demonstrate its ability to consistently provide services that meet client needs.
Why Should You Use ISO 45001?
  1. Your customers will want to be assured that those organizations that operate under their control have good OH&SMS in place, very much as they seek assurance of quality in today’s world. If this is the case, the adoption of the ISO 45001 standard should be part of your system to win the hearts of your customers.
  2. Complying with the ISO 45001 standard is a way to show customers, investors, and regulators that you are serious about keeping people safe. When stakeholders are confident in your abilities to maintain a safe work environment, they are more likely to want to do business with you. Not only that, but they are also less likely to scrutinize each decision you make. You will be eligible to work on larger, more lucrative projects or contracts reserved for companies with an OH&S management system in place.
  3. You will address health and safety risks in your operations, and minimise the potential of on-site accidents and deaths paving the way to fewer workplace injuries and illnesses and fatalities.
  4. Anytime a worker is injured and can’t return to work, productivity suffers. You lose time hiring and training a replacement. And if any equipment is damaged during the accident, you may have to temporarily shut down operations.
  5. By decreasing the risk of health and safety injury, you also decrease the chances that a worker will need to file an insurance claim. As a result, your organization that implements a successful ISO 45001 management system may enjoy lower out-of-pocket expenses and premiums, including worker’s compensation.
  6. You will be able to inspire consumer and stakeholder confidence in your ability to plan for, and mitigate health and safety risks.
  7. You will reduce the number of accidents, their overall costs, downtime and your insurance premiums.
  8. By demonstrating that you are actively involved in creating a better environment for your employees, you are setting yourself apart from the competition and gaining the trust of your audience.
  9. You may face the risks and lost opportunities involved with not having an ISO 45001:
    • where ISO 45001 may be a legal or contractual requirement; and
    • you will potentially be eligible for more lucrative, large scale both government and private sector contracts that are only offered to organisations that have ISO 45001.
Key Elements of ISO 45001:2018 OH&SMS
  1. To identify business context, external issues and internal issues such as (external) political, economical, social, cultural, legal and OH&S; (internal) company culture, infrastructures, resources, and financial and OH&S that would affect the performances of your OH&SMS.
  2. To identify the needs and expectations of interested parties such as customers, workers, suppliers, contractor insurers, community, neighbours, and regulators which are significant to the success of your OH&SMS.
  3. To determine the scope of OH&SMS and identify these OH&SMS processes.
  4. Top Management involvement is central. Top management is responsible and accountable for the effectiveness and performance of OH&SMS.
  5. OH&S Policy shall be communicated, and made available to interested parties.
  6. Responsibilities and authorities for relevant roles within the OH&SMS are assigned and communicated at all levels within the organization and maintained as documented information.
  7. Workers' involvement emphasis:
    1. to involve workers or employee representatives in the development, planning, implementation, performance evaluation and improvement actions of the OH&S management system. Processes should be established, implemented and maintained for the consultation and participation of workers at all levels and functions;
    2. to ensure workers participate in the process, organizations must provide the mechanisms, time, training and resources required for their involvement and consultation; and
    3. it is important for organizations to find and remove impediments or barriers to the participation of their workers and minimize other barriers which cannot be removed. 
  8. To determine the health and safety hazards of your activities, assess OH&S risks and opportunities based on the organizational context (external and internal issues), needs and expectations of interested parties and company scope.
  9. To determine applicable legal requirements and other requirements imposed by authorities and customers and plan actions and evaluate the effectiveness of these actions.
  10. To establish OH&S objectives with consideration of the results of risks and opportunities assessment and to determine the what, whom when and how they are to be communicated.
  11. Employees should be provided:
    1. with the relevant OH&S training and education;
    2. with awareness of employee’s contribution to and benefit of OHS&; and
    3. with awareness of health safety hazards, risks and opportunities and meeting legal requirements. 
  12. To ensure OH&S communication within the company, amongst interested parties, contractors and visitors to the workplace.
  13. To eliminate safety and health hazards, OH&S risks through the use of the hierarchy of safety controls.
  14. To manage OH&S changes.
  15. Procurement:
    1. to ensure outsourced processes are controlled or influenced;
    2. to determine the health and safety requirement(s) for the procurement of products and services, as appropriate; and
    3. to communicate the relevant health and safety requirement(s) to external providers, including contractors. 
  16. Emergency Response Plan (ERP):
    1. to establish ERP for emergencies;
    2. to provide training on ERP;
    3. to establish Emergency Response Team; and
    4. to test ERP periodically. 
  17. To evaluate legal requirements and other requirements compliance before the OH&S internal audit.
  18. To report the performance of OH&S objectives and targets.
  19. Plan and conduct OH&S Internal audit with the results reported to the respective managers,  workers, worker’s representatives and other interested parties.
  20. To conduct OH&S Management review meeting to review:
    1. the changes to external, and internal issues, expectations of interested parties, legal, risks & opportunities;
    2. the performance of OH&S policy, objectives, incidents, non-conformities, monitoring results, legal compliance, audit, consultation & participation of workers, risks and opportunities; and
    3. the adequacy of resources, communications with interested parties, and Opportunities for Improvement. 
  21. To determine opportunities for improvement arising from:
    1. clause 9.1 — Monitoring, measurement, analysis and performance evaluation
    2. clause 9.2 — Internal audit
    3. clause 9.3 — Management review 
  22. React to incidents in a timely manner:
    1. take action to control them and deal with the consequences;
    2. investigate the incident, with the participation of workers, determine root cause(s) and determine if similar incidents have occurred;
    3. review existing EHS risks assessment, and review risks related to new or changed hazards before taking action; and
    4. determine & implement actions needed and review effectiveness. 
  23. To continually improve the suitability, adequacy, and effectiveness of the OH&S to enhance OH&S performance.
MLOK’s methodology and approach to making your company ISO 45001 complied for certification
We adopt four stages of the most practical and methodological process to help you certified for ISO 45001.


Stage 1: Planning
Conduct Kick-Off Meeting to:
  1. conduct Gap Analysis;
  2. establish implementation schedule and plan;
  3. establish Health and Safety Committee:
    1. Secretary Cum Safety & Health Officer;
    2. Employer Representative;
    3. Employee Representative;
    4. Legal (OSHA &FMA);
    5. Purchasing;
    6. Human Resource or Training;
    7. Chemical Handling (Storage, Consumption, Pollution; and
    8. Emergency Response (Fire Fighting, First Aid, Emergency Activities);
  4. establish a documentation framework; and
  5. have a fundamental understanding of the requirements of ISO 45001.
Stage 2: Documentation
Drafting and writing documents to comply with ISO 45001 requirements:
  1. OH&S Manual
    1. OH&S process and sequence and their interaction (Clause 4.4);
    2. OH&S Policy (Clause 5.2);
    3. OH&S Objectives (Clause 6.2);
    4. OH&S External & Internal Issues & Interested Parties (Clause 4.1 & 4.2);
    5. OH&S Organisation Chart (Clause 5.3); and
    6. Emergency Response Team and Responsibilities Chart (Clause 5.3). 
  2. Job Description (Clause 5.3).
  3. OH&S Core Procedures.
  4. OH&S Supporting Process Procedures.
  5. OH&S System Procedures.
  6. OH&S Forms, Work Instructions and others.
Stage 3: Implementation
  1. Guidance and advice on the implementation of the documented OH&S.
  2. To conduct an ISO 45001 OH&S Internal Audit Training.
  3. To conduct an ISO 45001 OH&S Internal Audit.
  4. To conduct an ISO 45001 OH&S Management Review Meeting.
Stage 4: External Audit
  • Stage 1 Documentation Audit by the Certification Body.
  • Rectification of Stage 1 Audit Finding issued by the Certification Body.
  • Stage 2 Audit Compliance Audit by the Certification Body.
  • Rectification of Stage 2 NCRs issued by the Certification Body.

You will then receive your ISO 45001 certificate.
 


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