ISO 45001: Occupational Health and Safety Standard
What is Occupational Health & Safety?
Occupational health and safety (OHS), is a multidisciplinary field related with the Safety, Health and Welfare of People at workplace. The goal of an occupational health and safety program is to foster a safe and healthy occupational environment. It also protects all the general public who may be affected by the occupational environment.
OHS includes the laws, standards, and programs that are aimed at making the workplace better for workers, along with co-workers, family members, customers, and other stakeholders.
Improving a company's occupational health and safety standards ensures good business, a better brand image, and higher employee morale.
What is ISO 45001?
ISO 45001 is the new international standard for occupational health and safety management replacing the OHSAS 18001 standard. The standard reduces workplace risks to improve employee safety.
ISO 45001 certification is developed to mitigate any factors that can cause employees and businesses irreparable harm and gaining the ISO 45001 certification allows organizations to demonstrate that their business operates a best-practice Occupational Health and Safety Management System – reducing the likelihood of accidents and breaches of legislation, as well as improving organisation’s overall performance.
This Standard surpasses many existing health and safety standards because it has been developed by a committee of occupational health and safety experts. It takes into account other international standards in this area such as OHSAS 18001, the International Labour Organization’s ILO-OSH Guidelines, various national standards and the ILO’s international labour standards and conventions. This makes it one of the most valuable Health and Safety Management Systems available to date.
Especially geared toward senior management, ISO 45001 has the ultimate goal of helping businesses provide a healthy and safe working environment for their employees and everyone else who visits the workplace. This goal can be achieved by controlling factors that could potentially lead to injury, illness and — in extreme situations — even death. As a result, ISO 45001 is concerned with mitigating any factors that are harmful or that pose a danger to workers’ physical and/or mental well-being.
