There was standing room only as Richard Jones, IOSH, explained what is happening with the new international standard for safety and health, ISO45001.
ISO45001 is a fantastic opportunity for OSH to get the resources and attention it deserves, and to help achieve a global goal of preventing workplace injury, illness and death.
Describing the standard as a “systematic risk based approach to managing risk” Richard explained what the new standard is, the difference between ISO45001 and OHSAS18001, and the implications for the future.
Starting his presentation Richard reminded the audience that every 15 seconds around the world someone dies because of their work. The loss, he said, is both humanitarian and of huge cost to business.
Good occupational safety and health equals good productivity.
The aim of ISO45001 is to manage global health and safety, ensuring all international management systems have the same structure, even down to the clauses and titles.
“Presently OHSAS18001 is not consensus based or international” he continued “ISO 45001 will reduce inconsistency and confusion.
“Standards need standardising, so all new and revised standards will follow the same structure with 40% identical core text and 60% topic specific text”.
Comment on the Draft BS ISO 45001
So where are we now with the ISO45001 process? Following eight international meetings, the standard is at the enquiry stage, after the first draft narrowly failed to pass last year, following consultation. A second consultation is currently running and will close on 14 July 2017. If all goes smoothly we should be looking at a publication date in September. If there are any issues highlighted through the consultation process, publication may not be until early next year.
The differences of ISO45001 and 18001:
For those currently using the OHSAS18001 standard, there will be a migration period until 2020/2021 (depending on when the new standard is published) to change over to ISO45001.
What should OSH professionals be doing now?
– Understanding the requirements
– Raising awareness – gaining commitment from top management
– Upskilling, where needed
– Brushing up on interpersonal skills
– Making sure CEOs and directors are up to speed – with OHSAS18001 companies were allowed to appoint a representative to speak to auditors, now they will be able to talk to anyone, so they need to demonstrate they can talk about the company’s occupational safety and health.
