What is ISO 45001?
ISO 45001 is the international standard for occupational health and safety management systems. It helps an organisation prevent work-related injury and ill health, provide safe and healthy workplaces and continually improve its OH&S performance.
The current edition, ISO 45001:2018 (with Amendment 1:2024 on climate change), replaced OHSAS 18001, whose migration period ended in 2021. It uses the same high-level structure (clauses 4–10) as ISO 9001 and ISO 14001, so it fits easily into an integrated management system. Certification is issued by an accredited certification body after a two-stage audit and is valid for three years with annual surveillance audits.
Who needs ISO 45001 certification?
- Construction and civil engineering companies
- Manufacturers and industrial plants
- Logistics, transport and warehousing companies
- Energy companies and facility services providers
- Suppliers and contractors who must prove safe working practices in tenders and in the supply chains of large clients
What the ISO 45001 self-assessment checks
- Context of the organisation, interested parties and OH&S scope (clause 4)
- Leadership, OH&S policy, roles and worker consultation and participation (clause 5, incl. 5.4)
- Hazard identification, assessment of OH&S risks and opportunities, legal and other requirements and objectives (clause 6)
- Resources, competence, awareness, communication and documented information (clause 7)
- Operational control and the hierarchy of controls, management of change, procurement, contractors, outsourcing and emergency preparedness (clause 8)
- Monitoring, internal audit, management review, incident investigation and corrective action (clauses 9–10)
Typical gaps before an ISO 45001 audit
- The hazard register is incomplete and does not cover all activities, sites and non-routine work
- Workers and their representatives are not consulted or involved in OH&S decisions
- Contractors and outsourced work are not controlled or evaluated
- Incidents and near misses are not investigated and root causes are not addressed
- The register of legal and other requirements is outdated
From self-assessment to certification
The self-assessment shows where you stand today. Use the gap report as your ISO 45001 checklist to plan the work, prepare documents and evidence, and then run a practice interview in the BALTUM AI audit simulator. The certification itself is carried out by an accredited certification body of your choice.