Health and safety in the workplace is the number one concern for most businesses, yet deaths and injuries still occur every day at work. ISO 45001 provides a framework for businesses to ensure their OH&S processes will protect their employees from avoidable workplace illness and injury.
What is Occupational Health & Safety?
Occupational health and safety is a multidisciplinary field concerned with the safety, health, and welfare of people at their place of work. According to the International Labour Organization, more than 7,600 people die every day from work-related accidents or diseases. These are preventable deaths, that could have been avoided with proper occupational health and safety measures in place.
For this reason, the ISO committee set about developing a global standard for H&S that can reduce these unnecessary deaths.
What is ISO 45001?
The ISO 45001 standard is designed for organisations that are serious about their employee safety and who want to actively work to reduce workplace risks and create safer working conditions for all.
It is an international framework for health and safety at work that has been developed by national and international standards committees, independent of UK government. Beyond just illness and injury, the standard works to mitigate the adverse effects of broader issues by taking into account the risks associated with the physical, mental and cognitive conditions employees encounter at work.
ISO 45001 is designed to help prevent work-place injuries and sickness and is aimed at senior management level. It provides a single, clear framework for businesses wanting to demonstrate (and actively improve) their OH&S performance.
Why ISO 45001 is Important to The Clean Space?
Everyone in our business shares a common goal – to make the working environment better for our staff, our customers and our suppliers too. We’re dedicated to providing safe and healthy workplaces, so the ISO 45001 standard helps set a single benchmark for the management of our occupational health and safety issues.
Our accreditation demonstrates our commitment to continual improvement in workplace H&S and the ethical, responsible and sustainable practices that have been at our core since we began in 2005.
Our customers share our mindset – they too place emphasis on the importance of their people and the wellbeing of those people. So we know the new ISO45001 accreditation will be a welcome independent stamp of approval on our efforts in OH&S.
The Clean Space’s ISO 45001 status:
- Indicates to employees and future employees that this is a ‘safe place to work’
- Shows we have an independently certified occupational health and safety (OH&S) management system in place
- Tells you we work to continually improve both our OH&S and performance
- Means there will be a reduction in workplace H&S incidents compared with non-accredited organisations
- Boosts team productivity and morale within our workforce
- Puts H&S at the core of our company culture, with everyone accountable for health, safety and wellness at work
How is ISO 45001 Different to the Previous OHSAS ISO 18001?
Prior to the introduction of ISO 45001 in March 2018, there was a similar BS OHSAS ISO 18001 that many will be familiar with. The two standards do differ – the former 18001 focussed on managing hazards internally, the newer 45001 standard concentrates on the interaction between the organisation and its environment. Additionally, (among other differences), OHSAS is procedure based (not process based) and was concerned mostly with the risks themselves, without also considering the opportunities that come with managing those risks.
The new ISO 45001 standard dictates a shift in how we view OH&S. Rather than be an isolated issue, the risks we face must be framed within an individual organisations market, sector and environment more broadly to create sustainable systems.
What ISO 45001 Means for Our Customers
For our customers, our latest certification means they can rest assured that:
- Our working and management practices adhere to the highest global standard for occupational health and safety
- We provide safe working conditions for our employees and your employees too
- We have robust systems in place to manage OH&S at work
- We are committed to continual improvement (good is not good enough) and measure our performance regularly
- We are independently audited and certified by the ISO committee
- Mirroring their own business, OH&S is at the heart of our culture