ISO 45001 becomes first globally recognised health and safety standard

From 12 March 2018 UK manufacturers have the opportunity to become certified to the world’s first globally recognised health & safety standard.

The new standard brings a number of new concepts such as leadership, continuous improvement and stakeholder management and for health & safety it presents an opportunity for businesses to be more strategic, including the requirement to look at the wider health and safety implications of the supply chain, i.e. procurement, outsourcing as well as contractors.

For global businesses it provides a framework to manage health & safety consistently across international borders and ensure that it is managed and measured consistently. For small and medium size businesses it will also bring them in to line with international approaches to risk management and will give them an edge when competing for global contracts.

Making the transition, or migrating to ISO 45001, will be different for every business, some will have a more challenging period of change. Others, especially those who fully embrace the current British Standard, OHSAS 18001, will find the journey is relatively straight forward. I recently took part in a roundtable discussion held by the IOSH magazine where we discussed the implications of the new standard, you can watch a video of the roundtable here.

We are also launching a range of services and support to help manufacturers with their journey to ISO 45001:

• Our consultancy and training services will support you throughout you migration to 45001, covering planning, implementation and preparing for certification
• Our new IRCA (International Register of Certificated Auditors) approved courses in partnership with QMS Skills Ltd to help companies gain the auditing skills needed to help facilitate the transition to ISO 45001 certification. We are running a two day auditor course and will be offering further courses, including a five day lead auditor course later in the year.

Skills to get buy in and leadership engagement – one of the most significant changes with ISO 45001 is the need to truly engage the business and gain support of the business leaders. Our new training programme for health and safety managers develops your business and influencing skills to get the support you need. As its project based you can use ISO 45001 as the project and get expert coaching and support in building and presenting your business case.

Tools, resources and guides: