# 12 - Format for determining external and internal issues for OH&S Management System

# 12
Format for determining external and internal issues for OH&S Management System








- Keshav Ram Singhal

# 11 - ISO 45001:2015 - Context of the organization (Clause 4)

# 11
ISO 45001:2015 - Context of the organization (Clause 4)

(4.1) Understanding the organization and its context

Requirements

Determine: External and internal issues: (i) relevant to organization's purpose, (ii) effecting organization's ability to achieve organization's OH&S management intended outcomes.

Comments

- Issues (external and internal) can be positive or negative.
- Issues can include conditions, characteristics or changing circumstances that can affect the occupational health and safety management system of the organization.
- No specific methodology, for determining external and internal issues, is mentioned in the standard. It is for the organization to apply its own suitable method. One such method to determine the internal and external issues may consists following steps - (i) The top management of the organization should constitute a team of identified persons, who are well-versed with organization and its processes, (ii) The team members should think individually as well as collectively and identify positive/negative factors and conditions that are relevant and that can affect achievement of organization's goals/objectives, (iii) All such identified issues should be summed-up.
- The author of this literature has designed formats for determining the external and internal issues. Format will be posted in the forthcoming post.

(4.2) Understanding the needs and expectations of workers and other interested parties

Requirements

Determine: (i) Other interested parties that are relevant to organization's OH&S management, (ii) requirements (needs and expectations) of workers, (iii) requirements (needs and expectations) of other interested parties, (iv) which determined requirements (needs and expectations) are or could become legal or other requirements.

Comments

- In addition to workers, other interested parties can include legal and regulatory authorities that can be local, state, national or international authorities (such as Municipal Corporation, Government health department, Government Fire Brigade, State Government bodies, Central government bodies etc.), parent organization, suppliers, contractors, subcontractors, workers' or trade union representatives, trade unions, employers' organizations, owners, shareholders, customers, clients, visitors, local community, neighbours, general public, medical services, other community services, media, academia, business organizations and associations, NGOs etc.
- Needs and expectations (requirements) of legal and regulatory authorities are mandatory, so it is necessary to determine all such requirements.
- No specific methodology, for determining the needs and expectations (requirements) of workers and interested parties, is mentioned in the standard. It is for the organization to apply its own suitable method. One such method to determine the internal and external issues may consists following steps - (i) The top management of the organization should constitute a team of identified persons, who are well-versed with organization and its processes, (ii) The team members should think individually as well as collectively and identify relevant interested parties and their needs and expectations. (iii) All such identified interested parties and their requirements should be summed-up.

(4.3) Determining the scope of the OH&S management system

Requirements

Consider: Determined external and internal issues

Take into account: (i) Determined requirements of workers and other interested parties, and (ii) planned / performed work-related activities.

Determine: Scope (boundaries and applicability) of the organization's OH&S management system

OH&S MS must include: Activities, products and services that are under organization's control or can influence / impact the organization's OH&S performance.

Maintain, retain and make available documented information: Determined scope.

Comments

Scope = boundaries and applicability of the management system

There is freedom for an organization to determine and define the scope of its OH&S management system. The scope of the OH&S management system may include the whole organization or a specific department or specific departments. While determining the scope of organization's OH&S management system for a specific department or specific departments, it should be ensured that such specific department's or departments' top management should have its own functions, responsibilities and authorities for establishing an OH&S management system.

The scope of the OH&S management system must include activities, products and services that have or can impact the organization's OH&S performance. The scope of the OH&S management system should not exclude activities, products and services to escape or avoid organization's legal requirements and other requirements.

The scope is an accurate and demonstrative description of the organization's processes that are included within the organization's OH&S management system boundaries. The scope should not mislead or misguide interested parties.

While determining the scope of an organization's OH&S management system, please ensure to have all activities included in the scope that have or may create health and/or safety hazards. You may exclude specific activity or function from the scope that does not have or may not create any health and safety hazards.

(4.4) OH&S management system

Requirements

Establish, implement, maintain and continually improve: OH&S management system including processes and their interactions as per ISO 45001:2018 standard's requirements.

Comments

The standard requires the organization to establish, implement, maintain and continually improve the organization's OH&S management system, including the processes needed and their interactions. Requirements of ISO 45001:2018 OH&S standard should be considered and fulfilled while establishing, implementing, maintaining and continually improving the occupational health and safety management system in the organization.

The organization's OH&S management system should be aligned and united with business processes of the organization to ensure that OH&S performance is in line with OH&S policy of the organization.

ISO 45001:2018 standard can be implemented for a specific part or parts of an organization subject to the scope of the organization's OH&S management system.

Elizabeth Gasiorowski-Denis says, "In order for an OH&S to be strong and healthy, everyone in the organization must feel that he or she shares some responsibility for maintaining a safe environment. This includes employees all the way up to executives." (ISOfocus #127)

*Courtesy Source*
- ISO 45001:2018
- ISO Website
- ISOfocus #127

- Keshav Ram Singhal

Please keep visiting my blog and keep commenting too. Please share information about the blog among your friends who may be interested in the subject. Academic comments and your suggestions for improvement are invited. Thanks.

#10 - ISO Technical Committees / Sub-committees that help create a health and safety culture for workers

# 10
ISO Technical Committees / Sub-committees that help create a health and safety culture for workers

There are a number of ISO committees / sub-committees that help create a health and safety culture for workers worldwide and reduce the number of work-related deaths and injuries. A few of them are as under:

- ISO/TC 85/SC 2 - Radiological protection
- ISO/TC 94 - Personal safety - Personal protective equipment
- ISO/TC 94/SC 1 - Head protection
- ISO/TC 94/SC 3 - Foot protection
- ISO/TC 94/SC 4 - Personal equipment protecting against falls
- ISO/TC 94/SC 6 - Eye and face protection
- ISO/TC 94/SC 12 - Hearing protection
- ISO/TC 94/SC 13 - Protective clothing
- ISO/TC 94/SC 14 - Personal equipment for fire-fighters
- ISO/TC 94/SC 15 - Respiratory protective devices
- ISO/TC 159 - Ergonomics
- ISO/PC 283 - Occupational health and safety management systems

*Courtesy Source*
- ISO 45001:2018
- ISO Website
- ISOfocus #127

- Keshav Ram Singhal

Please keep visiting my blog and keep commenting too. Please share information about the blog among your friends who may be interested in the subject. Academic comments and your suggestions for improvement are invited. Thanks.

#09 - Contents of ISO 45001:2018 standard in brief

# 09
Contents of ISO 45001:2018 standard in brief

ISO 45001:2018 OH&S standard conforms to the high level structure requirements for management system standards including similar core context, common terms and core definitions. ISO's high level structure (HLS), introduced in July 2012, is a set of 10 clauses that all management system standards are required to use. The intention behind using the common high level structure is to benefit user organizations that implement multiple ISO management system standard.

ISO 45001:2018 OH&S standard does not include requirements specific to other management systems, such as QMS, SR, EMS, security or financial management, however elements of ISO 45001:2018 OH&S standard can be aligned / integrated with elements of other management system standards, such as ISO 9001:2015 QMS, ISO 14001:2015 EMS etc.

ISO 45001:2018 OH&S standard contains requirements (necessary conditions, needs, expectations). This standard can be used by any organization : (i) wish to implement occupational health and safety management, and (ii) to assess conformity of organization's OH&S management system with ISO 45001:2018 OH&S standard.

An organization that wishes to demonstrate conformity to ISO 45001:2018 OH&S standard can do so by:
- making a self-determination and self-declaration,
- seeking confirmation of ISO 45001:2018 standard's conformity by interested parties, such as customers,
- seeking confirmation of organization's self-declaration by a party external to the organization, such as third party auditors,
- seeking certification or registration of organization's OH&S management system by an external organization, such as a certification body.

Clause-wise details of the standard are as under:

Clause 1 deals with scope

ISO 45001:2018 OH&S standard specifies requirements for an occupational health and safety management system. Requirements are generic and applicable to any organization regardless of its type, size and activities.

Clause 2 deals with normative reference

No normative reference document is mentioned in this clause.

Clause 3 deals with terms and definitions

This clause deals with terms and definitions that apply to ISO 45001:2018 standard. Terminological database used in the standard are available at the online browsing platform of ISO website or IEC Electropedia website.

This clause also provide definitions of following terms: organization (3.1), interested party / stakeholder (3.2), worker (3.3), participation (3.4), consultation (3.5), workplace (3.6), contractor (3.7), requirement (3.8), legal requirements and other requirements (3.9), management system (3.10), occupational health and safety management system (3.11), top management (3.12), effectiveness (3.13), policy (3.14), occupational health and safety policy (3.15), objective (3.16), occupational health and safety objective (3.17), injury and ill health (3.18), hazard (3.19), risk (3.20), occupational health and safety risk (3.21), occupational health and safety opportunity (3.22), competence (3.23), documented information (3.24), process (3.25), procedure (3.26), performance (3.27), occupational health and safety performance (3.28), outsource (3.29), monitoring (3.30), measurement (3.31), audit (3.32), conformity (3.33), nonconformity (3.34), incident (3.35), corrective action (3.36), and continual improvement (3.37).

Clauses 4 to 10 deal with requirements of OH&S management system

Clause 4 - Context of the organization

This clause deals with understanding of organization and its context, needs and expectations of workers and other interested parties, determining the scope of the OH&S management system and establishing, implementing, maintaining and continually improving the OH&S management system including the processes and their interactions.

4.1 - Understanding the organization and its context
4.2 - Understanding the needs and expectations of workers andother interested parties
4.3 - Determining the scope of the OH&S management system
4.4 - OH&S management system

Clause 5 - Leadership

This clause deals with the requirements for the top management that describe what their roles should be for leadership, commitment, OH&S policy, responsibilities, authorities including consultation and participation of workers.

5.1 - Leadership and commitment
5.2 - OH&S policy
5.3 - Organizational roles, responsibilities and authorities
5.4 - Consultation and participation ofworkers

Clause 6 - Planning

This clause deals with the requirements related to risks and opportunities, OH&S objectives, and planning to achieve objectives. This clause includes risk-based thinking in the OH&S management system. This clause is the part of 'Plan' of PDCA cycle.

6.1 - Actions to address risks and opportunities (6.1.1 - General, 6.1.2 - Hazard identification and assessment of risks and opportunities, 6.1.2.1 - Hazard identification, 6.1.2.2 - Assessment of OH&S risks and other risks to the OH&S management system, 6.1.2.3 - Assessment of OH&S opportunities and other opportunities for the OH&S management system, 6.1.3 - Determination of legal requirements and other requirements, 6.1.4 - Planning action)
6.2 - OH&S objectives and planning to achieve them (6.2.1 - OH&S objectives, 6.2.2 - Planning to achieve OH&S objectives)

Clause 7 - Support

Resources needed for the OH&S management system and to be provided is the subject matter of this clause. This clause also deal with the requirements of documented information, what and how need to maintain and retain. This clause is the part of 'Plan' of PDCA.

7.1- Resources
7.2 - Competence
7.3 - Awareness
7.4 - Communication (7.4.1 - General, 7.4.2 - Internal communication, 7.4.3 - External communication)
7.5 - Documented information (7.5.1 - General, 7.5.2 - Creating and updating, 7.5.3 - Control of documented information)

Clause 8 - Support

Doing is described in this clause that relates to organizational operation processes. This clause is the part of 'Do' of PDCA cycle.

8.1.- Operational planning and control (8.1.1 - General, Eliminating hazards and reducing OH&S risks, 8.1.3 - Management of change, 8.1.4 - Procurement, 8.1.4.1 - General, 8.1.4.2 - Contractors, 8.1.4.3 - Outsourcing)
8.2 - Emergency preparedness and response

Clause 9 - Performance evaluation

This clause deals with the requirements of monitoring, measurement, analysis and performance evaluation including internal audit, management review. This clause ispart of 'Check' of PDCA cycle.

9.1 - Monitoring, measurement, analysis and performance evaluation (9.1.1 - General, 9.1.2 - Evaluation of compliance)
9.2 - Internal audit (9.2.1 - General, 9.2.2 - Internal audit programme)
9.3 - Management review

Clause 10 - Improvement

This clause deals with requirements of incidents, nonconformity, corrective action and continual improvement. This clause is part of 'Act' of PDCA cycle.

10.1 - General
10.2 - Incident, nonconformity and corrective action
10.3 - Continual improvement

Annex A

Annexe A is informative and provides guidance on the use of ISO 45001:2018 standard.

Bibliography

Bibliography is provided in this section.

Alphabetical index of terms

In the end alphabetical index of terms used in the standard is provided.

*Courtesy Source*
- ISO 45001:2018
- ISO Website

- Keshav Ram Singhal

Please keep visiting my blog and keep commenting too. Please share information about the blog among your friends who may be interested in the subject. Academic comments and your suggestions for improvement are invited. Thanks.

# 08 - ISO 45001:2018 and PDCA

# 08
ISO 45001:2018 and PDCA

The approach applied in ISO 45001:2018 OH&SMS standard is founded on the concept of PDCA (Plan-Do-Check-Act). The standard incorporates the PDCA concept in its framework. The PDCA concept is a methodology that includes:

Plan - Ascertain, establish and evaluate: (i) OH&S risks and opportunities, (ii) other risks and opportunities, ascertain and establish the following to get the desired results according to OH&S policy of the organization : (i) OH&S objectives, and (ii) necessary processes.

Do - Implementation of established (planned) processes.

Check - (i) Monitoring and measuring of processes and activities carried out in the organization with regard to OH&S policy and OH&S objectives, and (ii) Reporting the outcome.

Act - Take actions to continually improve OH&S performance so that desired results are achieved.

If we compare ISO 45001:2018 standard with OHSAS 18001:2007 standard, we find that ISO 45001:2018 standard marks a moves away from the POPMAR (policy, organizing, planning, measuring, auditing and review) model to PDCA (plan, do, check, act) model. This brings the standard in line with most international standards (such as ISO 9001:2015, ISO 14001:2015 and other standards) that apply PDCA concept.

Relationship between PDCA and the framework in ISO 45001:2018 is shown in figure 1 of the standard. Please refer to the standard document for reference.

*Courtesy Source*
- ISO 45001:2018
- ISO Website

- Keshav Ram Singhal

Please keep visiting my blog and keep commenting too. Please share information about the blog among your friends who may be interested in the subject. Academic comments and your suggestions for improvement are invited. Thanks.

# 07 - ISO Project Committee responsible for ISO 45001:2018 standard, its brief details and its mission

# 07
ISO Project Committee responsible for ISO 45001:2018 standard, its brief details and its mission

ISO/PC 283 is the ISO Project Committee responsible for ISO 45001:2018 occupational health and safety standard that defines good practices in occupational health and safety management and specifies requirements of the management of occupational health and safety management in an organization as well as guidance for its use. ISO/PC 283 was created in 2013.

All ISO technical committees (including project committees) prepare a strategic business plan for their field of activity within 18 months of their creation. The strategic business plan describes the main aspects and dynamics of the economic, social, regulatory or other environment in which the committee operates, as well as its main objectives and current strategies, its internal structure and cooperation with other organizations. It includes the areas of activities of all the subcommittees operating under a technical committee.

David Smith of United Kingdom is the Chairman of ISO/PC 283. Charles Corrie of BSI, United Kingdom is the Secretary of ISO/PC 283.

Presently there is one working group, ISO/PC 283/WG1, whose executives are as under:
- Kristian Glaesel of Denmark - Convenor
- Bjorn Nilsson of SIS, Sweden - Secretary
- Jane Nyamvumba of RSB, Rwanda - Co-Secretary

Mission of ISO/PC 283 are as under:
- Promote the benefits of a systematic approach to occupational health and safety management
- Receive feedback and advance the discipline of occupational health and safety management
- Align and develop new products (standards, guidelines etc) to improve and expand the understanding of occupational health and safety management

*Courtesy Source*
- ISO Website
- ISO/PC 283 Website

- Keshav Ram Singhal

Please keep visiting my blog and keep commenting too. Please share information about the blog among your friends who may be interested in the subject. Academic comments and your suggestions for improvement are invited. Thanks.

# 06 - What are the factors that may help effective implementation of ISO 45001:2018 OH&S management system standard in an organization? What is the assurance of successful implementation of ISO 45001:2018 standard?

# 06
What are the factors that may help effective implementation of ISO 45001:2018 OH&S management system standard in an organization? What is the assurance of successful implementation of ISO 45001:2018 standard?

Organizations need to protect its people, its reputation and its future. As such, occupational health and safety has to be a major business concern, beyond being a legal duty. Managing occupational health and safety (OH&S) management system effectively, systematically and in a sustained way ensures that the highest levels of occupational health and safety (OH&S) performance are a key objective.

It is a complex, long term and operational decision for an organization to implement ISO 45001:2015 OH&S management system. Top management leadership role and commitment and participation from all levels and functions of the organization make the implementation in a proper way.

Some of the key factors required, for the effective implementation and maintenance of ISO 45001:2018 OH&S management system standard, are as under:

- Top management leadership role that include its commitment, responsibilities, accountability for implementing the standard requirements. Top management should develop, lead and promote a culture in the organization that pave the way for implementing the standard's requirements.
- Appropriate communication (internal as well as external) processes make the implementation smooth.
- Involvement, including consultation and participation, of workers and their representatives (if exist) for implementing the standard's requirements. Occupational health and safety management is everyone’s business. It encompasses everyone in an organization, from the highest level down; including temporary as well as permanent workers; and visitors and neighbours. It also has to be across all departments and divisions in an organization, to ensure that they develop collaborative and engaging relationships between their functions.
- Allocation of necessary resources, such as, human resources, infrastructure etc.
- Occupational health and safety policy of the organization that are in line with the organization's objectives and direction.
- Effective steps and actions should be taken to (i) establish and discover hazards, (ii) control risks, and (iii) take advantages that are associated with occupational health and safety of the organization.
- Necessary steps and actions should be taken to carry out regular performance evaluation and monitoring of the occupational health and safety management system as per ISO 45001:2018 standard.
- Necessary steps and actions should be taken to integrate the organization's occupational health and safety management system into the organization's business actions.
- Organization's occupational health and safety objectives should (i) be in line with the organization's occupational health and safety policy, (ii) take into account organizations hazards and occupational health and safety risks and opportunities.
- Necessary steps should be taken to comply legal requirements and other requirements to which organization subscribes.

Successful implementation of ISO 45001:2018 standard in the organization provides assurance to people, including its workers and interested parties, that there is effective occupational health and safety management system in the organization to (i) eliminate hazards, (ii) minimize occupational health and safety risks by taking effective preventive and protective actions. It ought be understood that adoption or selection of ISO 45001:2018 does not itself guarantee (i) preventing work-related injury and ill health to people working in the organization, (ii) providing safe and healthy workplaces, and (iii) improved occupational health and safety performance. The Success of an organization's occupational health and safety management system also depends on a number of factors (such as: context of the organization, scope of the occupational health and safety management system of the organization and the nature of organization's activities and related risks associated with the occupational health and safety) for which documented information and resources needed are essential.

*Courtesy Source*
- ISO 45001:2018
- ISOfocus #127
- ISO Website
- ISO/PC 283 Website
- Wikipedia Website

- Keshav Ram Singhal

Please keep visiting my blog and keep commenting too. Please share information about the blog among your friends who may be interested in the subject. Academic comments and your suggestions for improvement are invited. Thanks.