It is great to see that the 2^nd draft of ISO 45001 has been approved by the drafting committee.  There is one final meeting in September 2017 where they will finalise comments and either issue a Final Draft (FDIS) or will directly issue the final standard. It is anticipated it will be finalised and published early 2018.

Highlights of the new Standard

• Overall the standard aims to provide a framework for companies to manage Occupational Health & Safety (OH&S), improve OHS performance, provide a safe workplace and prevent injury and ill health.
• Integration with other ISO management system standards will be much easier as ISO 45001 follows the same Annex SL structure (i.e. headings, wording, definitions…) as other popular standards including:
  • ISO 9001 Quality Management System
  • ISO 14001, Environmental Management System
  • ISO 27001 Information technology
  • Draft ISO 22000 food safety.
• There is increased focus on leadership. The standard emphasises a safety culture lead from the top.
• The standard requires an organisation to establish the processes needed, considering its context (who are you, what do you do, where and how, who are your interested parties….) and considering risks and opportunities and legal and other requirements.
• There is a focus on participation of employees, and continuous improvement.

I will be posting some future blogs giving more details on the requirements and some practical tips on how you can start to prepare for the new standard.

In the meantime if you have any questions or would like to discuss how ISO 45001 can help you to manage safety please do not hesitate to get in touch.