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A New OH&S Management System Standard from ISO

Date: 20th November 2017

ISO is an independent, non-governmental international organization that has published 21923  International Standards since its inception. These standards cover almost every industry, from technology, food safety, agriculture to healthcare.

Many organisations are familiar with the benefits of a management system.  Whether it’s a quality, safety, or environmental management system, ensuring that your system is effective is essential.  The application of standards such as the ISO family of standards can help benchmark your program is an effective way to help determine how well  your system is performing.  You do not necessarily need to be audited and accredited to the standard, but it can be helpful to implement or orient your management system to a standard.

New Standards for OH&S Systems

There is currently a new standard being developed for Occupational Health and Safety management systems.  ISO 45001 is intended to help organizations set up a framework to help their organization focus on managing their OH&S risks, and performance in a sustainable manner by proactively eliminating or mitigating hazards in the workplace.  What are some of the main characteristics and benefits of 45001?

  • It is a standardized approach based on best practice that allows organizations to establish a framework to plan, implement, monitor, and respond to OH&S hazard and risk management
  • It is designed to support organizations of any size, and is a scalable program
  • It doesn’t tell you how to “do” OH&S, it outlines what aspects of OH&S should be considered in the management system such as:
    • Develop and implement an OH&S policy and objectives
    • Identify relevant procedures and processes
    • Identify and catalogue hazards and risks assosciated with activities
    • Identify relevant regulatory requirements
    • Engaging workers in the OH&S process
  • Helps improve abilities to identify and respond to potential or actual incidents, and regulatory compliance issues
  • May reduce costs associated with OH&S incidents
  • Reduction in insurance premiums as incidents reduce

The ISO 45001 standard is scheduled for release in March 2018.  If you’re interested in implementing an OH&S management system contact us for more information info@pacificsafety.ca .

For updates on the development of the standard check in here:

https://www.iso.org/iso-45001-occupational-health-and-safety.html

 

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