Overview

The international standard for occupational health and safety management systems, replacing OHSAS 18001. Current edition is ISO 45001:2018 with Amendment 1:2024 (climate action); a revision is at Draft International Standard stage.

ISO 45001:2018, Occupational health and safety management systems — Requirements with guidance for use, is the first ISO standard for occupational health and safety management systems. It superseded the earlier OHSAS 18001 specification, which was withdrawn after a migration period. It applies to any organization that wishes to eliminate hazards and minimise OH&S risks, regardless of size, sector or whether it employs people directly.

The standard uses the harmonized management system structure, so its requirements sit in clauses covering context, leadership and worker participation, planning, support, operation, performance evaluation and improvement. That structure allows an OH&S system to be integrated with ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 systems and audited together.

Two features distinguish ISO 45001 from a generic management system. The first is the weight it places on leadership and worker participation: top management must take overall responsibility for preventing work-related injury and ill health, and the organization must establish processes for consultation and participation of workers at all applicable levels, including non-managerial workers, and remove obstacles to that participation. The second is the requirement for hazard identification and assessment of risks and opportunities as an ongoing, proactive process rather than a periodic exercise.

Operational control is built around the hierarchy of controls — eliminate the hazard, substitute with less hazardous processes or materials, apply engineering controls and reorganise work, apply administrative controls including training, and only then use adequate personal protective equipment. The standard also requires management of change, control of procurement including contractors and outsourced work, and emergency preparedness and response.

Performance evaluation covers monitoring and measurement, evaluation of compliance with legal and other requirements, internal audit and management review. Improvement requirements explicitly cover incident and nonconformity investigation: the organization must react to incidents, evaluate the need for action to eliminate the root causes so they do not recur or occur elsewhere, and review the effectiveness of the actions taken.

Amendment 1:2024 added climate action wording to the context and interested-parties clauses, requiring the organization to determine whether climate change is a relevant issue and to recognise that interested parties can have climate-related requirements. It introduces no new clauses.

Certification is available through accredited certification bodies using the usual two-stage initial audit, a surveillance programme through the certificate cycle, and recertification. Certification is frequently a condition of entry to construction, energy, mining and industrial supply chains. Certification does not discharge legal duties: national OH&S law applies independently and the standard requires compliance with it as a minimum.

A revision of ISO 45001 is under way in ISO/TC 283 and has reached Draft International Standard stage, with the DIS ballot open in 2026. Until a new edition is published, ISO 45001:2018 with Amendment 1:2024 remains the standard for certification, and transition arrangements will be confirmed by the International Accreditation Forum once the revised edition appears.

Purpose

To specify requirements for an occupational health and safety management system, with guidance for its use, so that an organization can provide safe and healthy workplaces by preventing work-related injury and ill health and proactively improving its OH&S performance.

Key Benefits

• Provides a recognised framework for systematically preventing work-related injury and ill health
• Requires genuine worker consultation and participation, including non-managerial workers
• Drives use of the hierarchy of controls rather than reliance on PPE and procedures
• Improves identification and control of hazards from routine and non-routine activities
• Gives a structured method for tracking and evaluating legal and other OH&S requirements
• Certification is widely required in construction, energy, mining and industrial supply chains
• Integrates with ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 through the shared management system structure
• Strengthens incident investigation and root cause elimination
• Improves emergency preparedness and control of contractors and outsourced work

Key Requirements

• Determine the context of the organization and the needs and expectations of workers and other interested parties
• Define the scope of the OH&S management system and establish, implement and maintain it
• Demonstrate top management leadership and accountability for preventing work-related injury and ill health
• Establish an OH&S policy and assign organizational roles, responsibilities and authorities
• Establish processes for consultation and participation of workers at all applicable levels
• Identify hazards on an ongoing basis and assess OH&S risks and other risks to the system
• Assess OH&S opportunities and other opportunities for improvement
• Determine and have access to applicable legal requirements and other requirements
• Set OH&S objectives and plan how to achieve them
• Ensure competence, awareness, communication and documented information
• Plan and control operations, apply the hierarchy of controls and manage change
• Control procurement, contractors and outsourced processes
• Establish and test emergency preparedness and response processes
• Monitor, measure, analyse and evaluate OH&S performance and evaluate compliance
• Investigate incidents and nonconformities, determine root causes and take corrective action
• Conduct internal audits and management reviews and continually improve the system
• Address climate change as a context issue in accordance with Amendment 1:2024

Who Needs This Standard?

Organizations in any sector with occupational health and safety risks to manage — construction, manufacturing, mining and quarrying, oil and gas, utilities, transport and logistics, warehousing, agriculture, healthcare, facilities management and waste. It is used by health and safety managers, operations and site leadership, HR functions, and contractors who must demonstrate safety management capability to clients and pre-qualification schemes.

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