Now, is an important time for any person or organisation that relies on the use and certification to ISO 45001 (the new International Standard OHSAS 18001).
As you will already know, the International Standard for Environmental Management, ISO 14001, is currently under development, to ensure it remains relevant to the business issues and challenges which organizations face today and in the near future.
Over the past months, the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) has developing the Committee Draft (CD) for global feedback before moving to other drat in preparation for publication in mid/late 2016.
ISO 45001 Occupational health and safety management systems requirements will support new areas of management systems to ensure better compatibility and systems governance, making the implementation within an organization a lot smoother. Once published, the standard will apply to any organization wishing to:
- Establish and implement an internationally recognized occupational health and safety management system to reduce or minimize risks to personnel and other relevant parties
- Maintain and constantly improve their health and safety performance
- Keep all operations in line with their stated health and safety policies to an internationally recognized standard.
The standard will be aligned with ISO 9001 (Quality Management) and ISO 14001 (Environmental Management), which are themselves undergoing revision and due to publish in 2015.
If you are interested in commenting on the ISO CD 45001, which I strongly advise as this is a prime opportunity to influence the drafting of the International Standard.
You can review and comment on the ISO CD 45001 on the BSI website at http://drafts.bsigroup.com/ Registration is required.