Over the last number of weeks, we began the process of transitioning from OHSAS 18001:2007 to ISO 45001:2018. Prior to the transition, we had been maintaining an integrated quality and environmental management system – to which we are certified to the 2015 versions – and a separate health and safety management system for our certification to OHSAS 18001. Hence, we eagerly awaited the publication of ISO 45001 to allow us to develop a single integrated system across all three standards.
For the purposes of this opinion piece, I shall give you an overview of how we implemented several key clauses of ISO 45001.
4.1 Understanding the organisation and its context
This sprang naturally from our corporate business plan, strategic growth ambitions and certification to ISO 9001:2015 and ISO 14001:2015. Firstly, we outlined the purpose of the organisation, defining our mission, vision and commitment to excellence. Secondly, we performed a business SWOT analysis to identify any internal or external issues or conditions, which could affect the intended outcomes of our Integrated Management System (which now included OH&S).
It is also possible to use a PESTEL analysis to identify and monitor any external influences on your organisation. However, we decided to use the SWOT analysis as it tends to cover both internal and external issues and therefore it is slightly more aligned with clause 4.1.
4.2 Understanding the needs and expectations of workers and other interested parties
We felt we had this clause well understood as part of our quality and environmental management system. However, we needed to update our “Context and Stakeholder Analysis Register†to reflect the needs and expectations of interested parties insofar as they apply to OH&S. We identified the following relevant interested parties:
Employees
Clients
Local emergency services
Co-tenants of our premises
Contractors, sub-contractors and visitors
Regulators
Neighbours
We then performed a needs and expectations analysis of each interested party to determine what considerations we needed to make as part of our OH&S management system (see below example). Furthermore, we determined which of these needs and expectations are legal and/or other requirements.
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