ISO 45001:2018 has been approved as an international standard. Since then it has also been accepted as an Australian / New Zealand Standard, as AS/NZS 45001: 2018.
What is ISO 45001?
ISO 45001 is the new ISO standard for occupational health and safety (OH&S).
ISO 45001:2018 specifies requirements for an occupational health and safety (OH&S) management system, and gives guidance for its use, to enable organizations to provide safe and healthy workplaces by preventing work-related injury and ill health, as well as by proactively improving its OH&S performance.
The new standard outlines processes to help improve work safety, where required, global supply chains. It provides a framework that can be used to reduce work-related accidents and illnesses in areas of the world without existing OHS management frameworks.
Who is it for?
ISO 45001:2018 is applicable to any organization that wishes to establish, implement and maintain an OH&S management system:
- To improve occupational health and safety,
- Eliminate hazards and minimize OH&S risks (including system deficiencies),
- Take advantage of OH&S opportunities,
- And address OH&S management system nonconformities associated with its activities.
What are the major differences between OHSAS 18001 and ISO 45001?
While ISO 45001 draws on OHSAS 18001 – the former benchmark for OH&S – it is a new and distinct standard, not a revision or update, and is due to be phased in gradually over the next three years. OHSAS 18001 goes back to 2007, and a lot of issues in Workplace Health and Safety have changed or evolved since then, in particular issues around culture, involvement of workers and outsourcing.
There are many differences, but the main change is that ISO 45001 concentrates on the interaction between an organization and its business environment while OHSAS 18001 was focused on managing OH&S hazards and other internal issues.
Transition of OHSAS 18001:2007 certificates to ISO 45001:2018 certificates
ISO 45001 will replace OHSAS 18001, the world’s former reference for workplace health and safety. Organizations already certified to OHSAS 18001 will have three years to comply with the new ISO 45001 standard.
- The expiry date of OHSAS 18001:2008 (and other OHS management system standards as guided by stakeholders) certificates issued after publication of this migration policy shall be no later than 31 March 2021.
- The official status of OHSAS 18001:2007 will be considered as being “withdrawn” taking account the three year migration period from the publication date of ISO 45001:2018.
- The expiry date of accredited certifications to OHSAS 18001:2007 issued during the migration period shall correspond to the end of the three-year migration period.
We are in the process of finalising new training materials to provide you with the opportunity to understand ISO 45001 and learn about how to implement it. We will keep you informed on when this will be available.
For further information please contact our office or your Global-Mark Client Manager.
Yours sincerely,
The Global-Mark Team
NB: Information has been obtained from a number of sources, including JAS-ANZ and the International Organisation for Standardization (ISO).
