As we look forward to the highly anticipated release of the Occupational Health & Safety management system standard requirements in late February or March, 2018, DQS has begun making preparations to assist our customers in migrating from the former BS OHSAS 18001 to the new ISO 45001.

Our Lead Auditors have already begun offering gap assessments to the Final Draft International Standard and are beginning the qualification process to conduct upgrades.

Organizations who are currently registered to the OHSAS 18001 standard will have three years to come into conformance with the ISO standard, based on the date when ISO 45001 is published.

The adoption of an occupational health and safety (OH&S) management system is intended to enable an organization to improve its OH&S performance to prevent work-related injury and/or ill health to workers and to provide safe and healthy workplaces.

The ISO 45001 standard has been developed to provide a framework for managing OH&S risks.   It has been designed to integrate and harmonize with ISO 14001:2015 and ISO 9001:2015.

This harmonized approach allows for the addition of OH&S specific text including requirements and notes to clarify and ensure consistent interpretation and implementation of the common text in the context of an OH&S management system.

According to the standard introduction, the intended outcomes of the OH&S management system are to prevent injury and/or ill health to workers and to provide safe and healthy workplaces; consequently, it is critically important for the organization to eliminate or minimize OH&S risks by taking effective preventive and protective measures.

When these measures are applied by the organization through its OH&S management system, they improve its OH&S performance. It can be more effective and efficient to take early action to address opportunities for improvement of OH&S performance.  It is anticipated that an organization will improve its performance with the implementation of the ISO 45001 standard.

An OH&S management system can also assist an organization to fulfil its legal requirements and other requirements. ISO 45001, like other International Standards, is not intended to increase or change an organization’s legal requirements.

Upon its release, anticipated late February or early March, the standard will be available for purchase here. If you would like to receive a quote for a Gap Assessment, please contact Sales or your Customer Service Representative.

Author
Sara Gulo

Sara Gulo is the Marketing Specialist for DQS Inc. in the USA. She's been with DQS for 10 years in various roles, including Verification and Customer Service Professional. 

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