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RoSPA looking ahead to launch of ISO 45001

RoSPA is preparing to welcome the first global standard for occupational health and safety management systems.

ISO 45001 – which is due for launch next month – will aim to proactively improve employee safety, reduce workplace risks and create better, safer working conditions. It will replace the current BS OHSAS 18001, and organisations holding the existing standard will have a period of three years in which to migrate to the new one.

RoSPA participated in the UK committee brought together by BSI to contribute to shaping the new voluntary standard, which will be applicable to any organisation regardless of size, type and activities, and it will host a seminar in Birmingham on March 19 to help organisations prepare for ISO 45001.

Dr Karen McDonnell, RoSPA’s occupational health and safety policy adviser and head of RoSPA Scotland, said: “The purpose of occupational health and safety management systems is to underpin the creation of safe and healthy workplaces, allowing workers to return home unharmed by what they do for a living, and to provide a mechanism for organisations to continually improve their occupational health and safety performance.

“The really good news is that 45001 adopts a management approach founded on the universally applied ‘Plan, Do, Check, Act’ model, which provides a basis for common understanding of how to apply the standard. There is a much stronger emphasis on organisational context, meaning organisations will have to look beyond their boundaries to consider the impact of how they do health and safety on society as a whole. The role of the ‘leader’ is also more prominent, with a requirement for organisations to demonstrate that the occupational health and safety management system is driven from the highest level.”

Nathan Davies, RoSPA’s head of consultancy, said: “RoSPA welcomes ISO 45001’s focus on identifying and controlling risks, compared to 18001’s focus on hazards, and how the importance of supply-chain relationships is highlighted, with a need to confirm that the organisation has considered how suppliers and contractors are managing the risks within their sphere of activity.”

RoSPA’s ISO 45001 Seminar will take place from 8.30-11am on March 19 at Aston Villa Football Club, Birmingham. See www.rospa.com/events/iso-45001/ for more information and to book online.

To further help organisations prepare for ISO 45001, RoSPA has developed various support services: interim support, helping organisations review their current system and conduct a high-level gap analysis; in-depth support, involving detailed evaluation and full compliance; and transitioning support, helping to move current systems to ISO 45001. More information is available at: www.rospa.com/safety-consultants/work/safety-audits/iso-45001/  

Original article link: https://www.rospa.com/media-centre/press-office/press-releases/detail/?id=1566

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