Implementation walkthrough
How to implement ISO 45001: video walkthrough
A walkthrough of an ISO 45001 implementation: how an occupational health and safety system is built with the workers who do the job and prepared for an independent site audit.
Key takeaways
- Define the hazard profile, including contractors and every jurisdiction, before writing anything.
- Risk assessments are completed with the workers who do the job, and controls follow the hierarchy of controls.
- Worker consultation and participation must be visible in records, not only in the policy.
- The Stage 2 audit happens on site and includes a tour of the workplaces.
- An independent, accredited certification body audits and decides on certification.
Building an OH&S system that works on site
ISO 45001 is the international standard for occupational health and safety management systems. It asks for leadership accountable for safety, workers consulted and taking part, hazards identified and risks controlled in a set order of preference, legal duties known and evaluated, emergencies prepared for, and incidents investigated so the lesson changes the control. It replaced OHSAS 18001 and shares its clause structure with ISO 9001 and ISO 14001.
The question that matters is concrete: does every person working under your control, employees, agency staff and contractors alike, know the hazards of the task in front of them and have the controls to do it safely? This short film walks through the implementation route that turns that question into a system with owners, evidence and review.
Implemented well, the system changes what happens on site; implemented badly, it produces a manual nobody opens between audits. The difference is usually made in the first stages.
The ISO 45001 implementation route
Begin with the scope and the hazard profile: sites, activities, shifts, headcount including contractors, the legal jurisdictions and what your clients' prequalification requires. A gap analysis reviews hazard identification, the legal register, consultation, operational controls, emergency readiness and incident handling, keeps what works and agrees actions with owners and dates.
Implementation means risk assessments completed with the workers who do the job, controls applied in hierarchy order, contractors brought under control, drills run and records kept as the work happens. Internal audit across sites and shifts and a management review follow, with findings closed before the certification body's Stage 1 review and its Stage 2 audit on site, which includes a tour of the workplaces. The certification body decides; inspections, drills and internal audits continue afterwards alongside its surveillance audits.
Sterling's expert and experienced consultants support the work with your safety lead and supervisors, guided through Design™ or fully managed through Drive™, with hazards, legal obligations, permits, incidents and actions held in Effivity.
ISO 45001 at a glance
- Purpose
- Occupational health and safety: prevent work-related injury and ill health and provide safe and healthy workplaces for everyone under your control
- Relevant to
- Any organisation with workers, from construction and manufacturing to logistics, facilities and offices, single site or multi-country
- Edition
- ISO 45001:2018 with Amendment 1:2024; a revised edition is in progress, expected by ISO in the first half of 2027, with a transition period to follow
- Certification
- Assessed on site and decided by an independent, accredited certification body
- Sterling's role
- Implementation with your workers and managers, Effivity, training, internal audit and certification readiness, then Sustain™
- Cost and timing
- Total investment for an ISO 45001 OH&S management system depends on the current maturity of your processes, the scope, locations and number of employees. The process typically takes 4 to 8 months
ISO 45001: questions people ask
Can a small business implement ISO 45001?
Yes. The standard applies to any organisation with workers, and the system is scaled to the hazards. A ten-person contractor needs risk assessments for its tasks, a short legal register, a way to consult its workers and a simple incident process, not a safety department.
Is ISO 45001 certification a legal requirement?
Not as a general rule. OH&S law applies whether or not you are certified, and ISO 45001 requires you to identify and meet it. Certification is a client, tender and supply-chain expectation, and increasingly a condition of prequalification in construction, energy, facilities and logistics.
What is the difference between ISO 45001 and OHSAS 18001?
ISO 45001 replaced OHSAS 18001 in 2018, and the migration of accredited certificates closed on 30 September 2021. ISO 45001 shares its structure with ISO 9001 and ISO 14001, places accountability with top management, requires consultation and participation of workers, and addresses contractors, outsourcing and management of change explicitly.
Does ISO 45001 cover mental health and psychosocial risk?
The 2018 edition already requires hazard identification to take account of how work is organised and of social factors such as workload, working hours, harassment and bullying. ISO 45003:2021 adds guidance on managing psychosocial risks within an ISO 45001 system; it is a guideline, not a standard you certify to. We use it to bring psychosocial hazards into your risk assessment where relevant.
Does Sterling issue the ISO 45001 certificate?
No. Sterling consults, trains and prepares; an independent, accredited certification body audits on site and decides. A provider offering consulting and certificate on one invoice is selling paper.
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The complete guide
Everything on ISO 45001
Start with the ISO 45001 page, or go straight to the guide you need.
On the ISO 45001 page
- What are the main ISO 45001 requirements?
- How do you get ISO 45001 certified?
- How much does ISO 45001 certification cost?
- How long does ISO 45001 certification take?
- Who needs ISO 45001 certification?
- How ISO 45001 supports safety, compliance and your licence to operate
- Frequently asked questions about ISO 45001
Guides
- ISO 45001 audit questions
- ISO 45001 benefits
- The ISO 45001 certification process, step by step
- ISO 45001 checklist
- Choosing an ISO 45001 certification body
- ISO 45001 common mistakes
- ISO 45001 contractor management
- ISO 45001 certification cost
- Do I need ISO 45001? A decision guide for contractors, plant operators and boards
- ISO 45001 documentation
- Effivity ISO 45001 guide
- ISO 45001 gap analysis
- ISO 45001 hazard identification and risk assessment
- ISO 45001 implementation plan
- ISO 45001 integrated management system
- ISO 45001 internal audit
- ISO 45001 vs ISO 14001
- ISO 45001 legal register
- ISO 45001 management review
- ISO 45001 nonconformities
- ISO 45001 requirements explained
- ISO 45001 revision
- ISO 45001 scope
- ISO 45001 for small businesses
- ISO 45001 Stage 1 and Stage 2 audit
- ISO 45001 surveillance audit and recertification
- ISO 45001 timeline
- ISO 45001 training
- Verify a certificate
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