If you’re running a business, it’s important to ensure that your employees are safe. ISO 45001 certification ensures that your business has implemented a safety management system that meets the highest international standards. This will explain what ISO 45001 certification is, the benefits, and how to get certified.
What is ISO 45001 Certification?
ISO 45001 is a global occupational health and safety standard that was created to develop a system/process that can help protect employees and businesses from situations that could result in irreparable harm. It can also create an environment that can help you improve your safety record, which can reduce insurance premiums and workers’ compensation claims. Certification is voluntary, but it does offer a number of benefits. Keep reading why it is important for your business.
Understand that becoming certified in ISO45001 will give you tools to help be compliant with laws, regulations, and standards but will not in itself make you compliant.
Top 3 Benefits of Occupational Health and Safety Management (ISO 45001) Certification
There are a number of benefits that come with ISO certification. Here are the top three benefits of an occupational health and safety management system:
- ISO certification can help you win new business. Many clients will only work with certified companies, as they know that these companies have met the highest international standards for the management of their safety programs.
- ISO certified companies can have lower insurance premiums and workers’ compensation claims. This is because certification requires companies to implement a safety management system, which creates an introspective environment that tends to reduce accidents and injuries.
- Certification can also boost employee morale, as employees will feel that their safety is being taken seriously by the company. Employees will see that they are an integral part of implementing a safety management system and that the company is committed to their well-being from Top Management down.
7 Requirements of ISO 45001 Occupational Health and Safety Management Systems?
The ISO standards are divided into seven elements, each of which must be met in order for a company to be certified. The requirements for occupational health and safety management systems are:
1. Context of the Organization – Identify the challenges and requirements that may have an impact on the OH&S Management System’s strategy (OHSMS). This is outlined in 2 subclauses:
- Comprehending the organization and its context.
- Comprehending the wants and expectations of employees and other interested parties.
Additionally, the scope of OH&S and OH&S procedures, as well as their application and interactions, must be known and established to set boundaries for the management system.
2. Leadership – Senior management is required to exhibit leadership and commitment to the health, safety, and environmental management system.
- Senior management design, execute and maintain an OH&S policy that is appropriate for your business and that organizational roles, duties, and authorities for pertinent functions are allocated, communicated, and understood.
- Your organization is obliged to create, implement, and maintain procedures for non-managerial and managerial employees to participate in and consult on OHSMS-related matters.
3. Planning – Must evaluate the issues raised in the preceding clause 4.1, the requirements set forth in section 4.2, the scope of the OH&S system as defined in clause 4.3, and the measures necessary to address OH&S risks and opportunities. The planning of actions entails:
- Developing methods for identifying workplace hazards and assessing OH&S and other system risks, as well as identifying OH&S and other system opportunities.
- Legal and other standards pertaining to hazards and OH&S risks must be assessed, kept current, and made available.
Creating OH&S objectives for relevant functions and developing plans to attain them.
4. Support – Requires your organization to identify and provide the resources necessary to establish, implement, maintain, and continuously improve an OH&S management system. This part discusses the system’s resources, which include worker competence and awareness, ways for communicating OH&S internal and external information, and the needs for documented information.
5. Operation – Requires your organization to plan, implement, and control the processes necessary for the OH&S management system, as well as to take the steps necessary to address risks and opportunities identified in earlier planning.
- Operational planning and control encompass methods for identifying and mitigating occupational health and safety risks, managing change, and procuring, contracting, outsourcing and emergency readiness and response.
- The organization’s strategic health and safety planning must be translated into actionable tactical or operational strategies and then implemented.
6. Performance – Requires your organization must create, implement, and manage monitoring, measuring, analysis, and evaluation methods.
- Performance evaluation encompasses mechanisms for assessing compliance with legal and regulatory requirements, internal audits, and management review, all of which are aimed at enhancing OH&S performance and establishing an effective OH&S management system.
- ISO standards continue to emphasize performance measurement, and ISO 45001 consolidates the majority of the system-level measuring criteria into a single part.
7. Improvement – Requires that your organization monitor occupational health and safety occurrences, nonconformances, and corrective measures.
- The improvement process entails setting continuous improvement objectives and carrying out the actions necessary to maintain the appropriateness, sufficiency, and effectiveness of the OH&S management system and to improve OH&S performance.
How to Get ISO 45001 Certification?
If you’re interested in ISO certification, the first step is to contact CANApproval. CANApproval will be as involved as you would like but the basic steps entail:
- Development of the company or site specific management system
- Safety Training necessary to implement the management system
- Implementation of the management system
- Working with a certification body to become certified
- Ongoing assistance with maintaining certification
