UKAS has issued a Technical Bulletin (19 March 2018) covering the process for UKAS-accredited Certification Bodies (CB) to migrate from issuing OHSAS 18001:2007 to ISO 45001:2018 certificates.
Similarly, ANAB has issued a Heads Up on ISO 45001:2018 Unaccredited Certificates, which explains similar principles in the three-year migration period, which ends 12 March 2021.
It is confirmed that until a UKAS-accredited CB is granted accreditation for ISO 45001:2018, it may issue unaccredited certificates for ISO 45001:2018 during the migration period.
So, CBs holding current UKAS accreditation for OHSAS 18001:2007, who wish to migrate to accreditation to ISO 45001:2018 are permitted to issue unaccredited certificates to customers meeting the ISO 45001:2018 requirements prior to the CB gaining accreditation to the new International Standard.
Once accreditation is gained, CBs will need to review each certificate issued as unaccredited to ensure the audit process that led to that certificate being issued is still valid before upgrading the certificate to accredited status.
So, bear in mind that if you make an early migration to ISO 45001:2018, your certificate may be unaccredited as the process for accreditation of CBs can take between six and 24 months. This may impact of the perception of your certificate in the marketplace & you should consider the short-term communication needs to manage the expectations of your Stakeholders / Interested Parties.
A copy of the UKAS Bulletin is freely available here & the ANAB Head Ups can be downloaded here
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