Moving ahead with ISO 45001 for safety and health at work

Latest estimates from the International Labour Organization (ILO) show that more than 6 300 people die each day (that’s over 2.3 million a year) as a result of work-related activities, and in total over 300 million accidents occur on the job annually. The burden to employers and employees alike is immense, resulting in losses to the wider economy from early retirements, staff absence and rising insurance premiums.

The ILO’s awareness-raising campaign, held annually on 28 April, is intended to focus international attention on the magnitude of the problem and on how promoting and creating a safety and health culture can help reduce the number of work-related deaths and injuries.

How ISO 45001 can help

This new voluntary standard currently under development will help organizations around the world improve their health and safety performance by creating a secure work environment where injuries and illness are prevented and lives are saved.

ISO 45001, Occupational health and safety management systems – Requirements with guidance for use, will provide the requirements for implementing a management system and framework that reduces the risk of harm and ill health to employees.

The standard is being developed by a committee of occupational health and safety experts and will follow in the footsteps of ISO’s other management systems approaches, such as ISO 14001 (environment) and ISO 9001 (quality). It will take into account other International Standards in this area including OHSAS 18001, the International Labour Organization’s ILO-OSH Guidelines, various national standards and the ILO’s international labour standards and conventions.