ISO 45001 - Occupational Health and Safety Management Systems
Status and Migration Planning
The burden of occupational injuries and diseases is significant, both for employers and the wider economy, resulting in losses from early retirements, staff absences
The ISO 45001 standard was developed by a committee of occupational health and safety experts and follows other generic management systems approaches such as ISO 14001 and ISO 9001. It will take into account other International standards, such as OHSAS 18001, and various national standards. Organizations currently certified to OHSAS 18001 will need to migrate to ISO 45001.
"ISO 45001 was published in March 2018. Organizations certified to OHSAS 18001 will have a three-year period for migration of their certification to ISO 45001. It is ABS Quality Evaluations' goal to perform value added audits that establish conformance to the standard, and in doing so, supporting organizations' understanding of the intent and philosophy behind the new requirements."
ABS QE's Approach to the Migration
The International Accreditation Forum (IAF) has extended the migration deadline for ISO 45001 certification.
The International Accreditation Forum (IAF) has stated that organizations will have three years from the month of the standards publications to migrate their system to become compliant to ISO 45001:2018. Migrations from OHSAS 18001:2007 to ISO 45001:2018 may be accomplished during a single visit during a renewal or surveillance audit. Migration audits will begin on September 1, 2018, subject to accreditation approval. All organizations will have three years until March 31, 2021, to complete the migration audit. The audit process must be complete, including a positive certification decision rendered by this date to avoid any gap in certification history.
Certified organizations will have the option of being audited to ether OHSAS 18001 or ISO 45001 until September 30, 2020, after this time all audits will be to ISO 45001. All organizations which have not had a scheduled or performed migration audit by February 1, 2021, will be evaluated for withdrawal. All certifications which have not had migration audits started by March 1, 2021, will be withdrawn.
The International Accreditation Forum (IAF) had stated that all organizations were given three years until March 31, 2021, to complete the migration audit from OHSAS 18001:2007 to ISO 45001:2018. As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, the deadline has been extended six months until September 30, 2021. The audit process must be complete, including a positive certification decision rendered by this date to avoid any gap in certification history.Certified organizations will have the option of being audited to ether OHSAS 18001 or ISO 45001 until March 31, 2020, after this time all audits will be to ISO 45001. All organizations which have not had a scheduled audit, or have migrated to ISO 45001 by August 1, 2021, will be evaluated for withdrawal. All certifications which have not started a migration audit by September 1, 2021, will be withdrawn.
At the time of scheduling the migration audit to the new standard, ABS Quality Evaluations will arrange for additional time to audit the changes between the OHSAS 18001 and ISO 45001 standards. All existing OHSAS 18001 clients will need to be requoted to ensure IAF MD 22 audit time requirements, including the man day and the revised complexities, are utilized. Migration audits performed at a scheduled renewal or surveillance assessments will require a small, one-time increase in audit time in addition to the duration normally associated with the surveillance assessment. The additional time will be between 1 to 1.5 audit days, depending on the organization's size and complexity and will be documented in the migration visit’s confirmation documentation. ABS Quality Evaluations' auditors will utilize this additional audit time to evaluate the effectiveness of conformance to ISO 45001.
In keeping with the fluid nature of the current circumstances, the IAF has also removed the restrictions around how remote audits can be utilized for migration audits, meaning that portions of these audits can now be undertaken 100% remotely.
ABS Quality Evaluations is committed to providing customers with uninterrupted support during this challenging time. If your organization is in the process of migrating to ISO 45001, or if you plan to implement it for the first time, please contact your local office to discuss your options.
ISO 45001:2018 Information Resources
Purchase a copy of the standard
If you have not already done so, we recommend that you start preparing now by purchasing a copy of the ISO 45001:2018 standard.
Information Webinars
ABS Quality Evaluations will be hosting information webinars discussing the standard. These webinars are highly informative and will provide additional information on the transition. For more information regarding the information webinar, visit the ABS-Group Knowledge Center to monitor upcoming ISO 45001 webinars.
Training Opportunities
Training is key for anyone involved in the implementation process or internal auditing. ABS Quality Evaluations will be offering various training courses to ISO 45001:2018. This includes overview courses, internal auditor and lead auditor transition courses.
Pre-Audits and Gap Analysis
An important part of the migration will require organizations to conduct a gap analysis of their management systems to the new standard. A pre-audit or gap analysis strategy helps organizations determine how their current management system conforms. Our pre-audit and gap analysis team will assess your existing occupational health and safety management system against the requirements of ISO 45001:2018 in order to help your organization develop a transition plan. A pre-audit or gap analysis will aid your organization in meeting the new requirements and enhance the readiness for the migration audit.
Contact Us
For more information about our information webinars, training and pre-audit or gap analysis services, please email certification@abs-qe.com or call your local ABS Quality Evaluations office.