Health, safety and security
ISO 45001:2018
Occupational health and safety management systems
ISO 45001 sets out requirements for an occupational health and safety management system.
A certified organisation identifies hazards to its workers and to others affected by its work, assesses and controls the risks, consults and involves its workers, and investigates incidents so that they are less likely to happen again. The aim is to prevent work-related injury and ill health and to provide safe and healthy workplaces.
Who it suits
Any employer, but especially organisations whose people work with machinery, vehicles or chemicals, at height, alone, or on construction and client sites. Contractors are often asked for ISO 45001 at pre-qualification for construction, energy, utilities and facilities work.
What certification involves
ISAO, or a certification body accredited for ISO 45001, audits the system in two stages: first the scope, hazard identification, legal requirements and readiness; then, on site, how controls work in practice. Auditors visit operational areas, observe work and speak to workers and their representatives as well as managers, because the consultation and participation of workers are requirements of the standard. Certification does not mean that an organisation has had no accidents; it shows that it has a working system for managing health and safety. Certificates are normally valid for three years, with surveillance audits at least once a year and a recertification audit before expiry. ISAO carries out this certification itself, and also accredits certification bodies to do it. Every certificate ISAO issues, and every certificate issued under ISAO accreditation, is recorded on the public register.
Key themes
- Leadership responsibility for health and safety, with consultation and participation of workers
- Identifying hazards and assessing risks, including from change, contractors and non-routine work
- Removing hazards first, and relying on protective equipment only as a last resort
- Knowing and meeting legal requirements
- Controlling contractors, purchasing and outsourced work
- Emergency preparedness and response
- Investigating incidents, correcting causes and improving
Edition
- Current edition
- ISO 45001:2018
ISO 45001:2018 is the first edition, published in March 2018. It took the place of OHSAS 18001, which was not an ISO standard and has been withdrawn. An amendment published in February 2024 asks the organisation to consider whether climate change matters to it when it reviews its context, and adds a note that interested parties may have expectations about climate change. ISO has a revision of the standard in progress. Until a new edition is published, ISO 45001:2018 remains the edition that certificates refer to.
Check a certificate for ISO 45001:2018
- Enter the certificate number or verification code at Verify a certificate, or scan the QR code on the certificate. The record shows the certificate's status today, for example valid, suspended, withdrawn or expired.
- Compare the organisation name, scope and sites on the record with the copy you were given. If you are appointing a contractor, check that the scope covers the kind of work you need.
- Check who issued the certificate, as named on the record. Where a certification body accredited by ISAO issued it, the record shows the status of that accreditation and its accreditation number, and says so if the accreditation did not cover ISO 45001:2018 when the certificate was issued.
- If the certificate is not on the register, ISAO cannot confirm it: it may have been issued under another accreditation, or a detail may be wrong. Ask the issuing body, and report a concern if something does not look right.
Related standards
- ISO 14001:2026 Environmental management systems Often combined with ISO 45001 in one integrated system
- ISO 9001:2026 Quality management systems Often combined with ISO 45001 in one integrated system
- ISO 39001:2012 Road traffic safety management systems For organisations whose work involves driving
- ISO 18788:2015 Management system for private security operations
- ISO 28000:2022 Security management systems
This is ISAO’s own summary, not the text of the standard. Copies of ISO 45001:2018 can be bought from ISO or from national standards bodies.