Occupational health and safety: the rise of ISO 45001

The latest ISO Survey shows a sharp increase in the number of companies and sites holding ISO 45001 certification. Four years after its introduction, this flagship standard for establishing an occupational health and safety management system is gaining widespread adoption around the world, including in France.
According to the latest study, the number of active ISO 9001 certifications worldwide has exceeded one million for the first time ISO Survey which closed the books on December 31, 2021. But that isn’t the most important figure to take away from this annual report, even though it focuses on quality management—the standardized management system most widely adopted by companies worldwide. We would like to draw your attention to the ISO 45001 standard, the counterpart to ISO 9001 as it applies to occupational health and safety (OHS).

In two years, the number of certified organizations in France has tripled, rising from 524 at the end of 2019 to 1,570 at the end of 2021. And it has increased eightfold worldwide: 38,654 in 2019 and 294,420 in 2021, particularly in China (two out of every three certificates worldwide are Chinese), Italy, and the United Kingdom. Occupational health and safety management now ranks third among the standardized management systems that generate the most certifications, ahead of ISO/IEC 27001 (information security) and behind quality and the environment, with which it forms the QSE trio.

The differences between OHSAS 18001 and ISO 45001 are often subtle, as we explained here. But the publication of the voluntary international standard in 2018 gave OSH management a boost, winning the favor of corporate QSE managers—and even their colleagues in the procurement department—who recognized the structure of the ISO 9001 (quality) and ISO 14001 (environment) standards. That is what makes these standards so effective: they are based on a common foundation that can be adapted to specific topics. And this is done while taking into account the regulatory context, regardless of the labor laws applicable in the country , adds Patrice Koralewski. This argument holds less weight in France, where the MASE framework remains the dominant standard for occupational health and safety management and is still widely taught, as at AFNOR Compétences. But even in a country that tends to view this issue through the lens of regulation rather than standardization, effective occupational health and safety management increasingly relies on ISO standards.

This is especially true in the construction industry, the sector with the highest number of active ISO 45001 certifications: nearly one in five certifications worldwide is held by a construction company, according to figures from the ISO Survey. This makes sense: in this accident-prone sector, the safety culture is strong, and QSE managers have found in ISO 45001 an objective way to demonstrate to their stakeholders that they take the matter seriously, beyond their regulatory obligations. Companies have everything to gain: according to estimates, every euro invested in occupational health and safety generates an average return of 2.20 euros by reducing risks and accidents.