ISO 45001: 2018

The Final Draft International Standard was published on 27 November 2017. There is a ballot due to end on 25 January 2018 which will determine whether the standard will be published. If so that will be in February or March 2018. At that time BSI are due to announce that OHSAS 18001 will be withdrawn, but BSI will continue to offer certification to OHSAS 18001 for a further three years (a migration period)  The ISO Second Draft International Standard was published in March 2017 by the ISO. On 20 July 2017, it was announced that the ballot showed 88% of National Standards’ Bodies supported the 2 DIS. The Drafting Group meeting in Malaysia in mid-September 2017 finished processing 1600 comments. The ISO/PC 283 committee is responsible for ISO 45001’s development. The project was first approved on 25 October 2013 following the committee’s inaugural meeting held in London, UK. If you have certification to OHSAS 18001 you need to migrate to ISO 45001 to maintain the validity of the certification. To correct the foregoing sentence: ISO and BSI are two different organisations, and certification to each is a separate process. Therefore a new application and certification will be required for ISO 45001. OHSAS 18001 will be withdrawn three years after the publication of ISO 45001.

The issue of hazard identification is that it is currently very manufacturing, and hardware orientated, when more and more of us are working in services. ‘Hazard’ identification, therefore becomes ‘risk’ identification and ‘risk’ control to ensure we encompass all potential hazards applicable to all industries and sectors.
If your organization sends people to work at other people’s site, what is your responsibility for their safety? A universal definition of the term will need to be clarified.