Published on March 12th, 2018, the new ISO 45001 global standard for occupational health and safety management systems will provide organizations around the world with a consistent and measurable approach to safety and compliance. Five years in the making, the highly anticipated ISO 45001 is a significant development in the world of safety management, bringing safety and compliance professionals around the world the framework to help increase employee safety, reduce workplace risks, and drive continuous improvement. The main goal behind the development of ISO 45001 was to create a flexible, applicable, and common set of widely accepted safety and compliance standards to support organizations all over the world, regardless of location, size, or industry.
As the first global consensus standard for safety and compliance management, ISO 45001 has the potential to push safety and compliance management forward on a global level, and help all organizations effectively manage safety and compliance goals and efforts. These new standards will have a significant and positive impact for all organizations that operate in multiple countries globally.
Building upon existing standards, ISO 45001 was developed with seamless migration in mind. The new standards follow the same structure and approach as existing ISO standards, such as ISO 90001 and ISO 14001 for quality and environmental standards, respectively. Designed to be consistent with these previously existing standards, as well as existing international standards (such as OHSAS 18001), the widespread adoption of ISO 45001 should be relatively easy for organizations around the world. Companies that have already achieved OHSAS 18001 certification will be allowed a three year transition period to migrate over to the new ISO 145001.
It is essential that safety and compliance professionals understand and implement these new standards into every facet of their organizations. Businesses that are compliant and up to date with the latest regulations will be better able to protect themselves from the corporate risk and costs associated with non-compliance, workplace injuries, illnesses, and fatalities. For companies that achieve the standards set by ISO 45001, the positive impact on health and safety performance, quality, and efficiency will be significant and tangible, both in the long and short-term. Given our focus on the world of safety and compliance, we are excited to see the release of this global standard. Increasingly stringent health, safety, and environmental regulations and standards around the world hint towards greater universal standardization, and are reinforcing the idea that both organizations and individuals must strive to make safety their top priority in the workplace. Over time, as companies begin to implement the new standards, we expect that ISO 45001 will bring about much safer, healthier, and more efficient workplaces around the world.
The use of innovative safety and compliance technology will continue to be essential in not only meeting and exceeding compliance with ISO 45001, but also in achieving continuous improvement in health and safety processes. Using cost-effective, flexible, and configurable QHSE software solutions such as NeoSystems ITRAK helps organizations manage corporate risk and increasingly complex safety and compliance processes. ITRAK works to streamline the process of collecting, tracking, and analyzing organizational health and safety data with a high degree of accuracy, enabling organizations to minimize non-compliance risks, while achieving and maintaining compliance obligations in the face of increasingly strict safety regulations. It’s time to ask that question, what is your company doing to ensure you are staying compliant in your industry?
For more information on ISO 45001, please visit: https://www.iso.org/files/live/sites/isoorg/files/archive/pdf/en/iso_45001_briefing_note.pdf
