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Background
An organisation is responsible for ensuring that it minimises the risk of harm to the people that may be affected by its activities (eg its workers, its managers, contractors, or visitors), and particularly if they are engaged by the organisation to perform those activities as part of their "occupation".
There were, according to an estimate by the International Labour Organisation (ILO), 2.34 million deaths in 2013 as a result of work activities. The greatest majority (2 million) are associated with health issues, as opposed to injuries. The Institute of Occupational Safety and Health, IOSH, estimates there are 660,000 deaths a year as a result of cancers arising from work activities.
ISO is developing an occupational health and safety (OH & S) management system standard (ISO 45001) which is intended to enable organisations to manage their OH & S risks and improve their OH & S performance. The implementation of an OH & S management system will be a strategic decision for an organisation that can be used to support its sustainability initiatives, ensuring people are safer and healthier and increase profitability at the same time.
An organisation's activities can pose a risk of injury or ill-health, and can result in a serious impairment of health, or even fatality, to those working on its behalf; consequently it is important for the organisation to eliminate or minimise its OH & S risks by taking appropriate preventive measures. An organisation's OH & S management system can translate its intentions to prevent incidents into a systematic and ongoing set of processes (supported by the use of appropriate methods and tools) and can reinforce the organisation's commitment to proactively improving its OH & S performance.
What is ISO 45001?
ISO 45001 is an International Standard that specifies requirements for an occupational health and safety (OH & S) management system, with guidance for its use, to enable an organisation to proactively improve its OH & S performance in preventing injury and ill-health.
ISO 45001 is intended to be applicable to any organisation regardless of its size, type and nature. All of its requirements are intended to be integrated into an organisation's own management processes.
ISO 45001 enables an organisation, through its OH & S management system, to integrate other aspects of health and safety, such as worker wellness / wellbeing; however, it should be noted that an organisation can be required by applicable legal requirements to also address such issues.
What ISO 45001 is NOT.
ISO 45001 does not state specific criteria for OH & S performance, nor is it prescriptive about the design of an OH & S management system. An organisation's OH & S management system should be specific to meeting its own needs in preventing injuries and ill-health; consequently a small business with low risks may only need to implement a relatively simple system, whereas a large organisation with high levels of risks may need something much more sophisticated. Any type of system may be capable of being in conformity with the requirements of the standard, provided it can be shown to be appropriate to the organisation and is effective.
ISO 45001 does not specifically address issues such as product safety, property damage or environmental impacts, and an organisation is not required to take account of these issues unless they present a risk to its workers.
ISO 45001 is not intended to be a legally binding document, it is a management tool for voluntary use by organisations from SME's upwards whose aim is to eliminate or minimise the risk of harm.
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Source by Isaac Patturajan