New Standard for Health and Safety Management Systems

The International Labour Organisation (ILO) calculated in 2017 that 2.78 million fatal accidents occur at work each year. Based on these calculations, almost 7,700 people die in work related diseases or injuries every day. In addition, there are 374 million non-fatal work-related injuries and illnesses each year, many of which result begins periods of absence from work. With such stark statistics, it is important that every business does all that it can to prevent accidents and work-related illnesses occurring.

It is intended that ISO 45001 will help reduce the number of accidents, and work-related injuries, by providing organisations with a standard with which to measure their health and safety management systems. More than 70 countries were involved in the creation of this new standard, including input from the British Standards Institution (BSI).

People may already be familiar with ISO management systems such as 9001 (Quality) and 14001 (Environmental) and the new 45001 standard is designed to integrate with those management systems.

The key benefits to organisations of using the standard include:

The new Occupational Health and Safety standard is based on common elements found in all ISO management systems and uses a simple Plan-Do-Check-Act model framework to help eliminate or reduce the risk of harm. Organisations which already have OHSAS 18001 will have three years to comply with the new 45001 standard.

If you are considering introducing the new standard into your business, or need to plan the transition from OHSAS 18001 and need advice, then please contact Mark Stouph, Health Safety and Environment Consultant at mstouph@jacksons-law.com or call 01642 356 500.