ISO 45001 CONSULTANTS
Use the ISO 45001 standard to drive safe and healthy workplaces, prevent work-related injury and ill health, and continually improve OH&S performance
Use the ISO 45001 standard to drive safe and healthy workplaces, prevent work-related injury and ill health, and continually improve OH&S performance
Occupational Health and Safety is a critical issue in organisations today.
The number of serious injuries and millions of days lost to injury or ill health can drastically affect the ability of an organisation to achieve it's business objectives.
Eliminate and reduce occupational health and safety risks
Improve your safety performance now and in the future
Involve your workers in decisions and see positive results
ISO 45001 is the internationally recognised standard for Occupational Health and Safety management (OHS). The purpose of the Occupational Health and Safety management system is to enable organisations to:
ISO 45001 is written as a generic standard and provides a management framework for an organisation to manage and improve Occupational Health and Safety performance. Critically, ISO 45001 focuses the attention of the organisation on eliminating hazards and adopting the Hierarchy of Controls to put the most effective management practices in place to deal with risk.
Whilst many organisations will manage some areas of OHS risk, the level of governance provided by an ISO 45001 OHS management system will lead to systemic and organised improvement on OHS performance over time. As a result, worker health and safety will become a key focus from the point of recruitment and induction, to the time they leave the organisation.
ISO 45001 supersedes the OHSAS 18001 standard and puts a great deal more emphasis on leadership and senior management commitment to creating a health and safety culture and providing a safe and healthy workplace. The standard also requires control of contractors, who can represent a significant risk but can be overlooked.
Critically, the standard also has a focus on worker engagement. In many organisations, the balance of decision-making sits with a small management team and workers are not empowered to take control of their actions. ISO 45001 requires that every worker takes control of their actions and acts in such a way that protects themselves and their co-workers, including contractors, temporary staff and visitors.
Disciplines within Occupational Health and Safety management will overlap with those from other standards.
Procedures and instructions written for OHS management, such as Safe Systems of Work (SSOW) can be written in conjunction with quality (ISO 9001) procedures to provide workers with a complete set of instructions or guidance on how to carry out tasks safely.
Within ISO 14001, an organisation is required to understand its significant environmental aspects and set out to manage them. OHS management will interact with these areas (e.g. managing environmental noise, or chemical handling), so control procedures can be combined.
In addition, ISO 45001 requirements will support an organisation planning for business continuity, in that the aspects of risk arising from significant disruptive events can be prepared for and actions put in place to manage them if they arise. Occupational Health and Safety planning can also be applied to the actions that take place during recovery; for example, assessing the risk of new premises or temporary working arrangements, clean-up, reconstruction and finally transition back to the normal working condition.
Occupational Health and Safety management, as all the ISO management systems, has adopted the PDCA cycle as the basis of continual improvement. Organisations don’t have to be perfect in order to have an effective Occupational Health and Safety management system, but the expectation of the ISO standard is that you can demonstrate the journey your organisation is taking. Over time, your capabilities and effectiveness will improve if you critique your Occupational Health and Safety performance in order to improve.
In following the plan-do-check-act process, the management team will begin to improve their planning processes and develop their skills of critical assessment regarding Occupational Health and Safety management. Part of this improvement will be to crystallise Occupational Health and Safety management objectives at a strategic and an operational level.
The Plan-Do-Check-Act process is a critical element of the management system, and each time the cycle is followed through, the capabilities of the team will get better. Tangible improvement arising will include:
Applying these skills to your organisation will enhance your Occupational Health and Safety management performance and improve your brand reputation and skills.
As with all ISO standards, you can sometimes get lost in the jargon. We've listed some frequently asked questions here.
We know that reading about it isn't the same as a good chat. Speak to us to find out what it means to you and your business.
SPEAK TO USEnhance your business even further with the good practices and requirements in ISO 45001.
The Standard builds on common practices found in every good organisation.
Let Spedan take care of the process for you. Our consultants are based across the UK and ready to talk through your project, simply contact us to discuss your requirements.
How do I get ISO 45001?
The process of developing an Occupational Health and Safety management system that meets the ISO 45001 standard can take anywhere from 3 to 12 months depending on the level of maturity of the organisation. In some cases, it is simply a case of introducing some new governance processes or developing documentation, whereas in others, an organisation will need to start from scratch.
Getting ISO 45001 is then a process of being certified. UKAS accredited Certification Bodies are the organisations who will carry out a series of audits of the Occupational Health and Safety management system against the ISO Standard. As a result of the audit (if the Occupational Health and Safety system meets the Standard) the Organisation is then awarded an ISO 45001 Certificate.
How long does it take?
The process of developing an Occupational Health and Safety management system that meets the ISO 45001 standard can take anywhere from 3 to 12 months depending on the level of maturity of the organisation. In some cases, it is simply a case of introducing some new governance processes or developing documentation, whereas in others, an organisation will need to start from scratch.
The first phase of the ISO 45001 audit process is a ‘Stage 1’ Audit, which will look at the readiness of the system, and check against the required documentation.
The benefit of the Stage 1 audit is that the organisation can test out its ideas or identify gaps without risking failing. The audit will result in a report that defines the amount of work needed to be complete before the Stage 2 audit is completed.
Usually, there is a gap between the Stage 1 and Stage 2 audits of 4 weeks to 6 months, which allows the organisation to gather more data and increase its capabilities.
How much does ISO 14001 cost?
Like any product or service that an organisation buys, it is important to shop around Certification Bodies and ensure that you get a level of service you want, at a price that is acceptable.
The UKAS accredited Certification Bodies are subjected to quality standards themselves and UKAS acts as Ombudsmen, which gives you assurance that any issues will be resolved appropriately.
Typically, direct audit costs are charged on a day-rate basis and the number of days will vary according to the size of the business. Companies up to 50 people can expect initial certification costs of approximately £5k, and ongoing costs of up to 2-3k per annum.
Spedan Ltd are Associate Consultants to the major ISO Certification Bodies and can help clarify your costs before you commit to one supplier.
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