ISO 45001:2018 (Occupational Health and Safety)

ISO 45001:2018- Occupational health and safety management system.

Employees are the backbone of organizations. If that employee is caused certain health problems due to working in an organization it is the duty organization to provide safety measures to its employees and provide them health benefits.
In this context we are going to see what is the standard designed for employees and how it is better than the old version, what’s are the benefits of having an ISO certificate, and the process of certification.

What is ISO 45001:2018

ISO 45001 generally deals with the health and safety of employees in the workspace. It is created for improving workers' safety reducing work risk and making sure employees are surrounded by a safe environment.

ISO 45001:2018 follows the structure of ISO 9001: 2015 and 14001:2015.

The latest version of ISO 45001 is 2018. It replaces OHSAS 18001. So let’s discuss what is OHSAS 18001

Occupational health and safety standard (OHSAS) 18001

This standard was designed to improve the health and safety of employees of the organization. This was replaced by a new standard ISO 45001 in March 2018. Both the standard's only objective is to protect workers' health and provide them a safe environment to work in the organization.
Let's see why they implemented ISO 45001 instead of OHSAS 18001.

• The old version only focused on the safety and health management of workers. The new version, not only Focuses on the safety and health management of workers but also makes sure that the working environment and organization are good for employees.
• The old version follows the procedure approach it mainly focuses on the harm that happened but the new version is based upon the process approach which enables to provide solutions to the problem generated.
• The old version is rigid to accept the changes but the latest version is dynamic in nature and fits in according to the situation.
• OHSAS 18001 will only identify the present risks and try to solve them. But the new version not only identifies and solves any problem but makes sure there is no harm for future opportunities.
• The old version has a narrow approach and the new version is the broad approach.

So there were many differences between both the versions.

Conversion from OHSAS 18001 to ISO 45001

After the new version was published it granted 3 years time period for conversion. If your old certificate was made before 2018 you will have a surveillance audit as per the old version and a recertification audit as per the new version. If you have taken the old version certificate after 2018 you will have 3 years time period to convert.

Clauses of ISO 45001:2018

ISO 45001 contains 10 clauses and 4 to 10 clauses are requirements.

Clause 4 to clause 10 are most important.

1. Clause 4:- It explains that knowing the context of your business is important both internally and externally. Not only that understanding the needs of stakeholders, investors, customers is important too. So listing out the requirements for the standard is good.
2. Clause-5:-  This clause explains leadership. It is the duty of the organization to maintain the good health and safety of its employees. The management and employment both should take responsibility for creating a safe environment for workers.
3. Clause 6:- Under this clause, it suggests you prepare a proper action plan for employees' health and safety as the work includes undesired results. ISO standard's main aim is to protect employees against harmful events.
4. Clause 7:- There must be proper communication between top-level management and employees and resources for unexpected events. The information should also be documented.
5. Clause 8:-  preparing for an operational emergency is required. It clearly specifies that the management should take the responsibility in order to effective operational control.
6. Clause 9:- In this, it says that the top-level management must evaluate OH and S management systems whether they are working effectively for continuous improvement of the organization
7. Clause 10:- Last clause explains to you how the work should be improved. It should eliminate any factor which holds the OH and S system in improvement.

These were clauses of ISO 45001:2018 and this should be kept in mind before getting certification.

Procedure for obtaining ISO 45001-2018 Certificate.

• Step1: The first step is to appoint an accredited certification body for verification.
• Step2:The next procedure is to prepare necessary documents for auditing purposes.
• Step3:The appointed auditor will evaluate the requirements and documents whether they are prescribed as per standard.
• Step4:After verifying your documents, they will come for an on-site- audit of the organization to inspect whether the requirements are implemented, check the process of organization, qualification of employees, measures taken for any improvement in the organization.
• Step5:After all, the verification is done and the certification body is satisfied it will present you ISO 45001:2018 certificate.

So this was the procedure you must follow to get yourself ISO 45001:2018 certified.

Benefits of having ISO 45001:2018 Certificate

• ISO will provide you with new measures to maintain employees' safety and health.
• By getting ISO certified, it will build confidence and trust of employees and investors which is a credit to the organization.
• It will also provide extra benefits such as motivation for employees to work in such an environment where they are protected from hazards and health benefits.