ISO 45001:2018 Occupational Health & Safety Standard

Finally, the new Standard is here. It was published in March and as expected it is using the Annex SL: format. It has been a long time coming and now can be used by companies wanting to demonstrate compliance with Health & Safety Law and regulations.

 It has 10 sections which should make it easier to integrate with other Standards using the same format:

• Scope 
• Normative 
• References 
• Terms and definitions 
• Context of the organisation 
• Leadership and participation of workers 
• Planning 
• Support 
• Operation 
• Performance evaluation 
• Improvement. 

Unlike other reissued standards this is a brand-new standard and is an ISO, (international) Standard). Where the old 18001 was a BS OHSAS Standard, therefore there is not a transition period.

However, ISO have decided that there will be a migration period of three years from date of publication for BS OHSAS 18001 users to address the new standard. 

It is hoped that there will be a greater uptake as it is now an ISO standard and that more companies will look to introduce an integrated management system with Quality (ISO9001) Environmental (ISO 14001) and Occupational Health & Safety (ISO 45001) together.

We have looked at the differences between the final draft and this published Standard and it seems that just a few words were amended and some of the items in lists are rearranged

There will be some delay in organisations offering certification to this standard as they must be accredited by UKAS before being able to issue UKAS Certificates.

As consultants we are able to offer consultancy services in this standard and training of internal auditors.