The most recent occupational health & safety standard released by the International Organization for Standardization, has seen organizations all over the planet align their OH&S management systems to this standards framework with some HUGE benefits!
One of the key improvements to the latest ISO 45001 standard is that it requires organizations to not only identify their legal and other requirements applicable to their operations, but “evaluate compliance” to these requirements, through documenting and implementing processes outline in clause 9.1.2 – Evaluation of Compliance.
Up until recently, organizations have typically achieved the “identification” of legal and other requirements through:
- Downloading and retaining copies of applicable OH&S standards, such as acts, regulations, codes of practice, and other process related standards in context to their products, services and activities
- Monitoring changes in these requirements, through reviews of each standard and changes that occur (e.g. Through signing up to regulatory body updates received by emails)
- Establishing a legal/compliance register of all applicable standards
- Reliance of industry knowledge specific to their scope of services and products
- Obtaining and implementing training and competency activities related to their OH&S management system activities
The newest version of ISO 45001 takes it one step further by requiring organizations to now “evaluate and verify” their legal compliance, which has many budding safety professionals scratching their heads in how to achieve conformity to this clause!
This can be daunting, but luckily at Oxebridge – we have your back!
This process involves the following steps:
- Identifying hazards related to your organization’s processes and activities
- Risk assessing these hazards, and determining required mitigation strategies for the prevention of work-related injury and ill-health
- Aligning determined hazard mitigation strategies to applicable OH&S legal and other requirements, and fill in any gaps
- Structure an internal audit program, based on the level of risk of each hazard (i.e. higher risk hazards are planned to be audited more frequently)
- Implement the internal audit program, by auditing against mitigation strategies and documenting the results
- Make changes and closeout OH&S nonconformities and legal noncompliances identified in OH&S audits
- Review OH&S audit results, formally in management review meetings – to evaluate your level of compliance
This process allows management to sleep easier at night, knowing they have a thorough understanding of “what” they are legally obligated to have in place, and “how” to do this! (Not to mentioned keeping workers and other staff safe!)
At Oxebridge we specialize in assisting organizations all over the world in not only developing ISO systems in line with ISO 9001, 14001 and 45001, but we also specialize in helping management and workers sleep well at night, by tailor-made management systems, suited to your organization’s scope of services and products.
Click here to obtain a quote, or email us directly, and sleep well at night!
