OHSAS ISO 18001 / ASNZS 4801 & now ISO 45001?

Whats the difference?

Well for those of you that don’t know these are all Occupational Health and Safety Management System Standards.

ASNZS 4801 Occupational Health & Safety Management Systems is the Australian and New Zealand Standard for the development of an Occupational Health and Safety Management System.

OHSAS ISO 18001 Occupational Health & Safety Management System is the International Standard for the development of an Occupational Health and Safety Management System.

The commercial environment recognises either system. Fundamentally both standards provide a framework for the establishment of safe systems of work to ensure a safe and healthy work environment.

From a structure perspective 18001 & 4801 have different structures with different elements that may require additional approaches or processes.

ISO 45001 Occupational Health and Safety Management Systems is a new (released in March, 2018) International Standard for the development of an Occupational Health & Safety System. This standard also provides a framework for the establishment of safe systems of work to ensure a safe and healthy work environment.

Why did they bring out a new standard?

Well, ISO 45001 is completely aligned in elements, concepts and approach to ISO 9001:2015 & ISO 14001:2015 – which makes it simpler to develop an Integrated Management System.

Businesses that are certified to ISO 18001 will have to transition to ISO 45001 – but not until 2021.

At this stage (and as with most things it is subject to change at any time seemingly without notice) there is no plan for AS/NZS 4801 will be removed. NZ has indicated that they will move to ISO 45001, but at this stage nothing in Australia.

So essentially if you are certified to ISO 18001 you need to start thinking about what is required to transition to ISO 45001. 2021 seems like a long way away but it will be here before you know it.

If you are certified to AS/NZS 4801 there is still a lot of value in considering adopting the new standard.Particularly if you are already certified to ISO 9001 & ISO 14001. The alignment of elements and the language used in the standards makes it so much easier to bring a system together. I particularly love the focus on Leadership and Worker Participation, the Planning focus that considers Risks and Opportunities, the Support focus in Competence, Awareness and Communication.

I firmly believe that ISO 45001 provides businesses with a greater ability to establish a Safety Culture. Strong safety culture means that everyone gets to go home and at the heart of it that’s what its really all about.