Steps to Implement for Achieving an ISO 45001 Certification

This article helps in entailing all the vital steps which you need to undergo for attaining an ISO 45001 certification in the most skilful manner possibly. 

Everyday, we come across news of fatal accidents in workplaces taking hundreds of lives every minute. Though many organisations across the globe have taken many sincere steps in promoting a safer workplace for employees, there was always a need for a highly stringent and well-defined framework or standard for directing them in taking the corrective measures with more accuracy. This is the reason why ISO 45001 certification was introduced—with the aim of improving the safety and security in workplaces across organisations globally. 

Being the first and foremost International standard for health and safety of workers at a workplace, ISO 45001 serves as an all-encompassing framework for organisations of all sizes and across varied industry verticals trying to improve the overall performance of their Occupational Health & Safety (OH&S) systems. Aimed for guiding the top management of the organisation, it helps them in developing a healthy and safe workplace for both visitors and employees. In achieving this it is also of utmost importance to monitor all the factors that can cause any kind of injury, illness, or death by eliminating the negative effects on the physical, cognitive and/or mental health of an individual. 

Keeping the significance of this globally acknowledged certification in mind, let’s discuss further the necessary steps you should follow to meet the criteria to make your organisation ISO 45001 compliant and get certified.

 

As it’s a major organisational goal to attain an ISO 45001 certification, it is important that all the senior members of the managerial body agree upon the same. They should understand how seeking this certification can help your organisation in undertaking improved health and safety work policies at the workplace, thereby securing the best interests of workers. You can discuss with them individually or conduct a joint meeting and focus on demonstrating the significant benefits an employer avails by obtaining an ISO 45001 implementation.

 

Do you have a clear idea of the various health and safety laws required in your industry? Have you checked the legal implications related to this specific certification at the state, regional, national, and global levels? In ISO 45001 standard’s 6.1.3 Section, all the legal requirements related to maintaining all the criteria are clearly mentioned. Obtaining understanding of them all will help you get a step closer to being ISO 45001 certified. 

Try to figure out the areas where you need to have a well-structured OH&S management system within your company. This will further help you while preparing the OH&S policy, plans, and objectives that would guide your operations accordingly. 

The next step involves defining all the processes and procedures which you need to undergo for controlling all the OH&S hazards prevailing in your company with help of competent ISO 45001 certification consultants. These pre-defined guidelines would help you in identifying all the health and safety risks and hazards at workplace, and necessary measures that should be taken to overcome them. It must also include the factors you need to consider for risk assessment and procedures of emergency preparedness and operational controls as well. 

 

Once you have outlined all the OH&S processes and procedures, it’s time to implement them while maintaining the highest level of accuracy and diligence. Try to assign all the right responsibilities to the right officials who hold special calibre and competency in carrying out the task meticulously. 

Make all the employees of your organisation aware of what it means to be an ISO 45001 complied organisation and how it can benefit your business in its entirety. Also conduct integrated training sessions across various departments to ensure they work while adhering to the rules and regulations as stated in the OH&S policy. 

Choose a specific certification body that’s appropriate for your organisation and can help you explore the maximum benefits. Try to conduct research on the auditors ensuring they have a comprehensive knowledge of your industry and the health and safety hazards associated with it. 

All the steps, processes, and procedures which you have undertaken for making your organisation ISO 45001 compliant must be well documented so that you can demonstrate the kind of practices you have been implementing to all the stakeholders and certification body when required. This will also help you assess how far you’ve reached in this mission and what the remaining objectives that need to be fulfilled are. 

Try to conduct internal audit programmes at regular intervals to monitor and evaluate whether each of the processes being conducted till now have been adequately done or not. This will also help you dig out the problem areas and take corrective action accordingly. 

In this step, you need to figure out whether OH&S management system is working as per the senior management plan. You need to check whether all the requirements are being met effectively and if there is any deviation in action from the pre-defined plan.

 

Now, that you have identified the areas of deviation in between the implemented actions and defined objectives, it’s time to chalk out a corrective action plan and implement the same for mitigating the problems. 

In the last step, the certification body will send forth a team of auditors for evaluating all your OH&S management policies, plans, procedures, and processes in accordance to the major requirements of seeking for an ISO 45001 certification. If there is no gap found in between and they feel satisfied the steps being implemented from your end are promoting utmost health and safety for workers, a recommendation for certification will be issued from their end. 

This entire process can be extremely daunting without any kind of professional help. Hence, always hire experienced consultants who can guide you to seek an ISO 45001 certification in a detailed way.

 

Author Bio: Damon Anderson is the owner of a highly esteemed ISO consultation agency with years of experience in offering professional guidance to businesses for attaining various ISO certifications including ISO 9001, ISO 13485, ISO 45001 certification. As one of the leading ISO 45001 certification consultants, he also likes to pen down various blogs and articles on different industry relevant topics. 

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