Introduction to ISO 45001:2018
With the evolution of multinational business interactions a need for a mutually recognizable standard of occupational health and safety arose in the 1990’s. After numerous negative incidents corporations wanted a way to assess a potential business partner’s commitment to the safety, health and welfare of their employees, and to maintain positive public regard.
The heightened importance worldwide of corporate social responsibility to its employees and the environment as well as the regulations governing the comprehensive presentation of information to investors created a strong demand for a formal method of verification by independent external third parties such as registrars.
ISO 45001:2018 is the world’s international standard for occupational health and safety, issued to protect employees and visitors from work-related accidents and also workplace diseases. ISO 45001:2018 certification is the migration of OHSAS 18001:2007 of which your company can no longer be certified to.
ISO 45001:2018 was designed to take other existing occupational health and safety standards, such as OHSAS 18001, into account including labor standards, secular conventions and safety.
Brief Historical Development of the OSHA Standard and ISO 45001
A worldwide collection of prominent national standards boards, certification companies and industrial special consultants created the OHSAS 18001:1999 standard. The standard was based on many existing management system standards developed in the industrialized countries prior to 1999.
These original requirements gave registrars and the business community a set of requirements that could be audited to, and helped to determine the soundness and integrity of a company’s overall operational practices in regard to occupational health and safety issues. The OHSAS 18001:1999 standard was replaced by OHSAS 18001:2007 which your company can no longer be certified to by any current registrars.
ISO 45001:2018 is now the current version of the occupational health and safety system specification being utilized for compliance standards. It was written to be compatible and integrated with the ISO 14000 series environmental standards for the workplace.
Industry specific OHSAS training and quality improvement process documentation is a central part of the customary business methodologies involved with ISO 45001 preparations for certification. Many European and Pacific Rim countries are already quick to adopt the current version of the ISO 45001 management system and the interest is growing within the United States.
Understanding the benefits and value of ISO 45001:2018 certification helps to ensure that your organization has a clear set of expectations that are aligned with your organization’s pursuit of certification.