Two-minute brief
ISO 45001 requirements explained: video brief
A two-minute brief on what ISO 45001 requires of an occupational health and safety management system, and what each requirement looks like on a real site.
Key takeaways
- Worker consultation and participation is a requirement, evidenced by committee minutes, toolbox talks and hazard reports.
- Hazards are identified on an ongoing basis, covering routine and non-routine work.
- Risks are reduced in the order set by the hierarchy of controls.
- Contractors, procurement and outsourced work fall inside the system.
- Incidents are investigated with workers, and the risk assessment is revisited.
What ISO 45001 requires of an organisation
ISO 45001 follows the harmonised structure of the ISO management system standards, clauses 4 to 10, with OH&S-specific requirements built in, from hazard identification and worker consultation to the hierarchy of controls, contractor control, emergency preparedness and incident investigation. This short film sets out that structure in two minutes.
Context covers the issues that affect OH&S, the needs and expectations of workers and other interested parties, and a scope covering every site and worker under your control. Leadership and worker participation ask top management to take accountability for preventing injury and ill health, set the OH&S policy and establish consultation and participation of workers. Planning means identifying hazards on an ongoing basis, assessing OH&S risks and opportunities, determining legal and other requirements and setting measurable objectives.
It replaced OHSAS 18001 and shares its clause structure with ISO 9001 and ISO 14001, so the three are often run as one system.
Controls, evaluation and learning from incidents
Support brings resources, competence, awareness and communication, including workers' awareness of their ability to remove themselves from imminent and serious danger. Operation is the heart of the standard: eliminate hazards and reduce risks using the hierarchy of controls, manage change, control procurement, contractors and outsourcing, and prepare for and respond to emergencies, with permits to work, contractor inductions and drills as the evidence.
Performance evaluation asks for monitoring, an evaluation of compliance with legal and other requirements, an internal audit programme covering every site and shift and a management review that decides. Improvement means reacting to incidents and nonconformities, investigating them with the participation of workers and removing root causes. The current edition is ISO 45001:2018 with Amendment 1:2024, which adds a decision on whether climate change is a relevant issue.
Read together, the requirements describe a cycle: hazards identified with the people who face them, controls chosen in order of effectiveness, legal duties evaluated, emergencies rehearsed, and every incident used to revisit the risk assessment rather than closed as paperwork.
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.
Keep exploring
Related to this video
Read next
- ISO 45001: the full guideStandard hub
- ISO 45001 Requirements Explained: Clauses 4 to 10 in Plain LanguageGuide
- ISO 45001 Checklist: Requirements in Order, With Audit EvidenceGuide
- ISO 45001 Documentation: What You Need and What You Do NotGuide
- ISO 45001 Scope: Sites, Workers, Contractors and Costly MistakesGuide
Services
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
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