Getting started with ISO 45001

Secure ‘top management’ commitment to leading on ISO 45001

Prepare well by carefully reading and understanding the ISO 45001 requirements. You can then explain to senior decision-makers the benefits of an improved occupational health and safety management system (OHSMS) and adopting ISO 45001 principles.

• Explain how ISO 45001 can help to manage overall corporate risk. Show how it can boost morale, productivity, reliability and reputation; secure business and talent; and prevent disruption and supply chain problems.
• Outline relevant processes you may have, such as for quality and environment, and the possible efficiencies from integrating them.
• Highlight similar organisations (and competitors or clients) that are seeking certification. Emphasise the vital role of all managers in OHSMS success.
• Ensure they fully understand the OHSMS and can show leadership in integrating it into the organisation’s systems and processes.

Review your OSH arrangements against ISO 45001, to identify any gaps

If your organisation has decided to seek certification, then you’ll need to engage a Certification Body, which will review your policy and arrangements and advise you. It will probably be in touch with you already, if you are certificated to OHSAS 18001 or another standard.

You’ll need an initial status review (gap analysis) to assess how well your organisation can satisfy ISO 45001 and what further work it needs to do. The identified ‘gaps’ will highlight improvement areas. An in-house team can conduct this work. A competent OSH professional should guide a mixed team of managers and workers that has collective knowledge of all relevant parts of the business.

Develop an implementation and resources plan to close the identified gaps

Once the areas for improvement are identified, you’ll need to develop an action plan, covering the ‘who, what, how and when’, to address them. The mixed team and OSH adviser should prioritise and determine the best course of action for each area of weakness and delivery timeframe.

These risk-based actions need to be proportionate and costed in terms of the controls required and the resources needed for implementation and ongoing operation. These should include any necessary processes, equipment, training, monitoring and communication mechanisms.

Ensure effective mechanisms for change management and worker involvement

You should consider the scale of transformation that your organisation is undertaking and whether you have sufficient in-house experience for this or require external support.

In developing the change-management arrangements, it’s vital you fully engage and adequately consult the workforce on all aspects of the process. You must ensure the involvement and commitment of relevant parties. Good two-way communication and interpersonal skills are crucial to ensure that you bring everyone with you on this journey and manage any associated risks.

Address any organisational OSH competence and resource needs

ISO 45001 has an overarching requirement for everyone in the organisation to have adequate OSH competence to carry out their roles safely and healthily. This will require each of your organisation’s departments to assess and plan to meet the OSH training and competence needs of their teams. They will need to consider any additional training required to help embed the new OHSMS at all levels in the organisation.

You’ll also want to review your procurement, contractor and outsourcing arrangements regarding OSH competence criteria. You’ll need to identify costs and source responsibly any other resources needed, such as competent assistance, training, equipment, tools and software.