Understanding ISO45001 certification in under 5 minutes

Did you know that in 2020, there were more than 120,000 serious injury claims made to SafeWork Australia? Accidents happen, but having best-practice processes and procedures in place can help to prevent them. All employers have a legal obligation to ensure they provide a safe working environment for their employees and having a comprehensive approach to Work Health and Safety (WHS) is a vital way to ensure their wellness and well-being are a priority.

In this article, we deep dive into the importance of workplace safety, what ISO 45001 is, and why your business should be certified.

So, what is ISO 45001?

ISO 45001 is an international standard for occupational health and safety. It provides requirements for an effective WHS management system that’ll help to reduce injuries and accidents in your workplace. This level of certification is designed to provide companies with a clearly defined structure of what safety measures should be implemented and when they must be taken. ISO 45001 not only helps businesses continually improve WHS practices and procedures but can also easily integrate with an existing WHS management system.

What are the benefits?

Not only does being certified ensure that your business prioritises WHS, but also that you have thorough risk assessment and prevention strategies in place to help you achieve safety goals. The benefits of being an ISO 45001 certified business include being able to:

• proactively identify and address potential hazards in your workplace;
• minimise the risk and the financial impact of accidents and incidents;
• reduce insurance premiums; and
• lower employer turnover and absenteeism rates.

Getting your certification: what do you need to do?

Knowing how to plan and implement WHS processes and procedures is a key skill in any industry. As is the case with attaining most standards, your business needs to meet certain requirements and be able to demonstrate that improvements can be made when needed, including:

• identifying any gaps in your existing system and detecting areas that need improvement;
• making any necessary changes to ensure you’re compliant with the new standard; and
• ensuring that every employee understands the new system and their roles.

Once your business has been certified, you’ll need to maintain compliance by ensuring your management systems and your company outcomes are continually improving.

Clever ways to grow your business  

If expanding your business into other competitive markets is on the horizon, then getting certified in ISO45001 is a smart idea. Becoming certified to an ISO Management System Standard helps your organisations meet international standards and sets it apart from other businesses by demonstrating a commitment to continual improvement processes.

Upcoming training dates

The team at QMS Certification Services has a wealth of knowledge just waiting for you to tap into. We offer training courses that can be tailored to your needs, suitable for managers, internal assessors, system managers and employees who are responsible for management systems and/or certification.

Here are some of our upcoming training courses:

• Introduction to ISO45001
• Other ISO training dates

If this article has raised questions about ISO 45001 for you or any other ISO certification standard, please reach out to our QMS Certification services team for more information.