ISO 45001 is an International Standard that specifies requirements for occupational health and safety (OH&S) management system. ISO 45001 offers organisations the guidance for its use and tools regarding how they can proactively improve OH&S performance by preventing injury, ill-health, eliminate hazards and minimize risks. It can be applied to any organisation, regardless of its size, type and nature of the business that wishes to establish, implement and maintain occupational health and safety (OH&S) management system.
Improving health and safety in the workplace not only creates a safer work environment and results in lesser accidents, but also saves time and cost regarding plant shutdowns, employee absenteeism, litigation subsequently improving regulatory compliance and corporate branding. ISO 45001 is based on Annex SL, the same management system framework as ISO 9001 Quality Management and ISO 14001 Environmental Management. It is aligned with the 2015 version of those standards so integration should be comparatively easier.
With this new version, ISO 45001 completes the QSHE management system triad along with quality and environmental standards. Like all ISO standards, 45001 is also universal. It is flexible and can be adapted to manage occupational health and safety in a wide range of organisations.