There has never been a better time than now to migrate to the ISO 45001 OH&S Standards.
With things slowly starting to get back to ‘normal’, or at least some semblance of normality, at workplaces across Australia, there is no better time for business’ to demonstrate their commitment to the health and safety of employees and onsite guests at their worksites. Part of demonstrating a commitment to promoting a safe and supportive workplace is the continual review and updating of existing work health and safety processes, to ensure that your practices are in-line with current OH&S laws, rules, and regulations, and are meeting industry compliance. Doing this sends a message to employees, stakeholders, and members of the general public, that you business is safe to deal with, takes the issue of work health and safety seriously, and is taking proactive steps to promote a safe, supportive work environment.
Occupational Health and Safety is a field that is constantly evolving, as it should be, to keep up with new concerns about potential health risks, hazards, and dangers, on worksites. The previous OH&S guidelines for business’, the national AS/NZS 4801 Safety Management System and the international OHSAS 18001 Standards are gradually being phased out in favour of a more efficient, effective work health and safety management system for business’, the International Organization for Standardization’s ISO 45001:2018 OH&S Standards. Business’ that want to ensure that their OH&S practices remain industry compliant, and are following local, national, and even international OH&S laws, will be required to migrate to the new ISO 45001:2018 Standards.
Anitech is proud to be an industry leader in providing effective Occupational Health and Safety Management solutions for business’, and over the past fifteen years we have helped organisations with a whole range of different Health and Safety services, including:
- Development and Implementation of ISO 45001 to certification.
- Development of Special HSE Compliance Programs, including Legal Register and updates to changes to legal requirements.
- Internal Audit Programme – Work Health and Safety Audits.
- Legal Compliance Audits (OH&S and Environment).
- Helping packaging companies address specific environmental concerns.
- Rehabilitation Management Systems (RMS).
- Risk Management Framework and Risk Assessments of plant, manual handling, chemicals, etc.
- Management of Systems (Quality, Safety, Environment).
- Chemical Management and Dangerous Goods Audit.
- An embedded consultant, providing a dedicated resource for your business to help maintain its systems (outsource/support system maintenance).
- Chain of Responsibility, and Audits and Training.
- Traffic Management Program.
- Workplace Inspections.
- Noise Measurement.
- Audiometric testing of warehouse personnel.
- Training in work health and safety.
- WHS software implementation.
- Modern Slavery Act (drafting policies and internal audits).
- Our new Lahebo platform – Launching Anitech’s new Digital Platform (SaaS Service) for our clients – which looks at digitising risk, legal compliance, audits, and incident management. To be released in April 2021, we are looking for existing clients who would be interested in trying this platform for free. If you are interested, please contact Anitech’s consultants on the number below.
That long list of the different health and safety services and solutions we have provided for companies extends well beyond the scope of the ISO 45001:2018 OH&S Standards. However, these standards can work with many of them, as it is developed to be compatible with other ISO business standards, making the transition to this new standard as smooth and easy as possible for business’.
Migrating has never been easier as the new standards build upon the old ones
As mentioned above, one of the main benefits to business’ migrating to the ISO 45001 Standards is that it utilises the same High-Level Structure (HLS) evident in other internationally certified business standards, including the ISO 9001 Quality Management Standards and the ISO 14001 Environment Management Standards. This means that business’ already utilising some of these internationally certified standards will find a degree of familiarity in these new standards, as they are structured in a compatible manner, allowing for smooth, hassle-free integration into the business’ management system.
While the new standards approach the issue of developing an effective OH&S management system at a business through a slightly different framework to the previous guidelines, its end goal remains the same: to help business’ develop effective, proven successful, strategies to prevent anyone getting injured on worksites. The standards not only help business’ to achieve this goal, but it can also bring other benefits to the business including increased productivity stemming from employees working in a safe, stress-free environment, and upholding the business’ reputation a safe, reliable organisation to conduct dealings with.
How ISO 45001 distinguishes itself from the previous OH&S standards
What makes the ISO 45001 guidelines the strongest, most effective OH&S standards on the market is its unique approach to developing and upholding effective occupational health and safety practices across an organisation. In particular, these standards have a firm focus on the interaction between the management of the business and the physical environment that employees work in, which is in contrast to the OHSAS 18001 standards, which specifically addressed strategies for getting a handle on work health and safety hazards in and of themselves, rather than developing a safe, supportive work environment that works at proactively identifying OH&S risks, and then taking preventative measures to mitigate them, as well as developing a clear checklist approach for handling OH&S issues as they occur. The ISO 45001 Standards also distinguish themselves from previous guidelines, by:
- Adopting a holistic approach to developing effective OH&S practices across the business, including taking into consideration the views and concerns of interested parties, how the OH&S practices that are implemented across the business will impact employees, and so on. This contrasts with the previous guidelines, which approached the issue of developing strong OH&S procedures from solely a risk perspective, in which risks are identified and then mitigated against.
- Recognising that successfully mitigating against potential OH&S risks and hazards stands to introduce potential opportunities for growth, advancement, and a stronger, more supportive, and productive company culture. For example, the OHSAS 18001 Standards focused on mitigating potential OH&S threats, in and of themselves, and placed no emphasis on the kind of positive work environment that could arise from successfully attaining this goal. The new standards specifically address how the effective mitigation of potential OH&S risks can brings advantageous opportunities to the company to streamline its operations and develop a more effective work environment.
Due to the unstable marketplace and ongoing changes to the ways in which people work, now is the ideal time for business’ to put people’s minds at ease by demonstrating their commitment to providing a safe, supportive work environment for their employees and onsite visitors, through the migration and/or implementation of the ISO 45001:2018 Standards. Through their implementation at your workplace, your business demonstrates that it understands that there are a range of OH&S concerns amongst the public, and your business is taking active steps to address these concerns in an internationally certified, industry compliant manner, so that both employees and visitors at your worksite are secure in the knowledge that their health and safety has been taken into consideration.
If you would like to have a discussion about these standards, and how they could be applied across your business is an easy, hassle-free manner, then please give Anitech’s safety systems consultants a call today on 1300 802 163. No matter the size or scope of your operations, it stands to benefit from implementing these standards, as not only do they work at promoting a safe and healthy culture at your workplace, they demonstrate to the wider public, including potential customers, that your organisation is an industry leader that is safe to deal with. Is there a better message that people could possibly hear about your business?
Please click here to read more about how an effective OH&S Management System can give your business the edge it needs to thrive in a tough marketplace.