In March 2018, the OHSAS 18001 standard was replaced by ISO 45001 which has the advantages of being an internationally recognized standard, integrating with other extremely widespread standards such as ISO 9001 and ISO 14001, and the possibility of aligning with other national standards, thus avoiding a great deal of confusion.
As always, in these cases, three years were foreseen to allow a smooth transition from one standard to another for all organizations that had already been OHSAS 18001 certified but, due to the Coronavirus that has affected almost all countries of the world, this term was moved by an additional six months. The new deadline, therefore, is September 30, 2021, the last day of validity of OHSAS 18001.
What remains of this transition period will be used to adapt to the new structure of the standard (if you are already familiar with ISO 9001 or ISO 14001, you know well the new format that is based on Annex SL to provide a common structure around which to develop your management system for easier and faster integration between the different standards) and to implement all necessary changes.
One of the first things to do in order to be able to make the transition from OHSAS 18001 to ISO 45001 is to start a gap analysis to identify all the changes that will need to be made to your Occupational Health and Safety Management System to meet the requirements of ISO 45001 and to be sure to prevent deaths, injuries, and occupational diseases in the best possible way, never losing sight of the attention to the continuous improvement of the system.
Starting to do this work as soon as possible will give you all the time you need to adapt the processes in place without effort and without risking that people do not assimilate the changes in the best way. Our advice for a smooth transition is to proceed according to these steps:
- read the ISO 45001 standard and take note of the main changes compared to OHSAS 18001;
- develop a training and awareness plan involving all managerial levels;
- evaluate your current risk management to see if it needs improvement or not;
- do a gap analysis to identify the changes to be implemented;
- assess whether it is appropriate, in this context, to also integrate other management systems to save time and effort and address all aspects related to the introduction of the new standards in one go.
ISO 45001 places health and safety at the center of the company's attention, along with continuous improvement. In addition to managing health and safety risks, the standard requires the organization to adopt a business-oriented style, identifying, for example, also the opportunities that must be seized quickly to have a real competitive advantage.
Top management will have to commit to demonstrating strong leadership with regard to the management system and to involve the people who work with him in the design, implementation, and continuous improvement of the Occupational Health and Safety system.
Send us a request for an offer by filling out the appropriate form and we will contact you as soon as possible to explain what the certification process consists of, give you an idea of the time needed to make the transition from an OHSAS 18001 certified system to an ISO 45001 certified one, and submit our best offer.
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