It’s Safe Work Month. Here’s how ISO45001 makes workplaces safer

Would you be surprised to learn that each year, machinery operators and drivers are the occupations with the highest fatality rate at work?

And, did you know each year, the top industries causing harm to staff include transport, warehousing and construction?

Considering there were 120,355 serious workers compensation claims in Australia in 2019-20 – an increase of 6000 from the previous year – we can all do better at keeping staff safe, especially when the 500,000 injuries each year are estimated to cost the economy almost $62 billion.

To avoid being a statistic, it’s a good idea for workplaces to become certified for ISO45001, which is the standard for occupational health and safety management systems. It can take some time to potentially achieve ISO 45001 certification, which is why it’s best to start today.

Considering October is Safe Work Month, what better time to begin?

Here’s a guide to working towards a healthy and safe workplace for employees and achieving ISO 45001 certification.

The overall purpose of ISO 45001

ISO 45001 provides requirements for an effective occupational health and safety management system. This system will help reduce injuries and accidents in your workplace, and continually improve safety performance in your business.

ISO 45001 sets the minimum standard for health and safety best practices in the workplace and it’s a holistic approach to workplace safety.

Implementing the ISO 45001 standard will lower risks both inside your business and risks to your business, as well as creating a healthier and safer working environment. This gives your business a reputation for safely meeting legal and regulatory standards.

What is ISO45001 made up of?

This standard consists of ten clauses that act as a framework for using and implementing the ISO 45001 in your workplace.

ISO 45001 has these ten clauses broken down into four sections – the PDCA Cycle (Plan, Do, Check, Act).

The various clauses ask you to do the following:

• Understand your organisation’s internal and external issues.
• Create a health and safety policy.
• Set safety implementation objectives.
• Create management support and implementation in setting the standard.
• Have management expectations and objectives consistently being met in practice in the workplace.
• Monitor performance.
• Periodically evaluate compliance.
• Analyse gaps.
• Undertake auditing.
• Continually improve.
• Follow a ‘plan-do-check-act’ model.

So what can ISO 45001 do for my business?

As an ISO 45001 certified business, you will be able to:

• Proactively identify and address potential hazards in your workplace – making it safer for employees and all staff.
• Minimise the risk of accidents and incidents as a result of the continual analysis and improvement of the OH&S system.
• Reduce costs of accidents and incidents in the workplace.
• Decrease the cost of insurance premiums.
• Shrink employee turnover and absence.

What it’s like to pursue certification through QMS certification Services

When looking to become certified you will need to:

• Perform a gap analysis on your existing business processes and identify any areas of weakness and opportunities to improve.
• Make the necessary changes and improvements so your business is compliant with the ISO 45001 standard.
• Ensure everyone understands the safety management system and processes, and their role within it.
• Complete a QMS Certification Services stage 1 and stage 2 audit to verify you meet the requirements of the Standard, and achieve Certification.

If there are any improvements that need to be made, they should be addressed as soon as possible.

Once your business has been certified, you will need to maintain compliance, to ensure your management system, and your business outcomes, are continually improving.

QMS Certification Services also offers training in ISO 45001 and operates across Australia – we  can help organise international standards certification across the nation.

Ready to start your certification journey? Contact QMS Certification Services on 1800 065 800 or email info@qms.com.au .