Occupational health and safety: goodbye OHSAS 18001, hello ISO 45001

Since the publication of the standard, the ISO/TC 283 committee has worked on related topics, giving rise to "daughter" standards. These include: practical implementation guide for SMEs and microbusinesses , a specification to work safely during a pandemic, and in June 2021, the ISO 45003 standard on psychosocial risks. But that's not all! "In 2022, the ISO 45002 standard on general guidelines for the implementation of 45001 will be released," announces Florence Saillet. "And we're also looking forward to the future ISO 45004 standard on the assessment of occupational health and safety performance and ISO 45006 on the prevention and management of infectious diseases..."

Tools for successful migration

• Assessment visit : one day, unrelated to an audit
• Regular web conferences
• A practical guide to the essentials of ISO 45001 certification, available for download
• AFNOR Compétences training on ISO 45001
• A special FAQ on occupational health and safety
• A book: Health and Safety Management according to ISO 45001 – Keys to Understanding and Implementation, Marie-Hélène Lefebvre, August 2018.

This is a major development in the world of occupational health and safety (OHS): on October 1, 2021, the British OHSAS 18001 standard will be permanently replaced by the voluntary standard. ISO 45001 , internationally recognized. This is a late development in the world of standardization: the last of the QSE triptych, the S for Safety is only now moving to ISO mode, with the standard having been released in 2018, while the Q for Quality and the E for Environment have been there since 1987 ( ISO 9001 ) and 1996 ( ISO 14001 ) !

Florence Saillet, project manager who oversaw the development of the standard at the International Organization for Standardization on behalf of AFNOR, explains this discrepancy as follows: If there had been no ISO standard until then, it was because a number of countries, including France, were opposed to it. Members of the French standardization commission were, on principle, hostile to the standardization of OHS issues, relying more on hard law to regulate practices. However, the OHSAS standard was beginning to show its age: Many companies wanted to take an integrated approach, with management systems combined with ISO 9001 and 14001. In 2013, after several attempts, the British conducted a consultation and the project was launched at ISO, with the participation of some 60 countries.

Admittedly, France did not vote in favor of the project during the 2018 vote, but French representatives were involved in the work to put forward their point of view. The national commission, composed of numerous occupational health and safety experts, including institutional actors, played a strong role. These discussions gave rise to the idea of a preventive approach to avoid risks rather than a post-incident reaction, and emphasized the importance of consulting workers and staff representatives in developing OSH policy. Two key measures included in the ISO 45001 of March 2018 .

Workers at the heart of the standard

While most of the requirements of ISO 45001 were already included in OHSAS 18001, the international standard places workers at the heart of the management system by recommending that they be consulted and involved. This approach is in line with French law, with the recent creation of the CSE (Social and Economic Committee), a single body representing employees. In the same spirit, the new standard anticipates the expectations of workers (teleworking, etc.) and other interested parties, such as subcontractors.

All companies that have already implemented integrated management systems have adopted ISO 45001. If necessary, this involves undergoing training. Over the period 2017-2021, more than a thousand people came for training, and almost as many were supported either in their transition from OHSAS to ISO 45001 or in their introduction to the ISO 45001 standard. Auditors were the first to develop their skills, followed by QSE and OHS functions. , says Séverine Lesage, who oversees the OHS field at AFNOR Competencies Companies therefore had three years to get up to speed, plus a six-month grace period due to the COVID-19 pandemic. To date, 85% of French companies that we had certified to OHSAS 18001, mainly in construction and manufacturing, have switched to ISO 45001. We had roughly the same percentage a few weeks before the deadline for transitioning to the 2015 version of ISO 9001 and 14001. , says Béatrice Poirier.

An auditor for AFNOR Certification for twenty years, Marie-Hélène Lefebvre, based in the Hauts-de-France region, notes that The first companies to obtain certification showed the same enthusiasm for ISO 45001 as they did for OHSAS 18001 in its day. These are mainly companies whose manufacturing processes require optimal safety, those with the highest accident rates. . Like the electronic components manufacturer Axon Cable , in Marne, the very first French company to be certified, in 2018. The latest ISO census indicated that France had 1,385 active ISO 45001 certificates as of December 31, 2020, including those issued by AFNOR Certification , across a total of 5,034 sites. A year earlier, these figures were 524 certificates for 1,523 sites: three times less! Worldwide, 190,429 certificates were active at the end of 2020, covering more than 250,000 sites, almost five times more than in 2019.

Conversely, companies that have never been OHSAS 18001 certified but are already ISO 9001 and 14001 certified have seized the opportunity presented by ISO 45001 to further strengthen their integrated management system.
With strengths and weaknesses.

The emphasis on employee participation and consultation is a strong point, as staff involvement is essential for implementing a robust management system. This is sometimes initially seen as a challenge for some decision-makers, but they quickly understand its value when they see how closely this requirement aligns with existing regulations: training plans, prevention plans, risk identification, accident investigations, etc. , observes Marie-Hélène Lefebvre. But it's obvious: the transition is easy when OHSAS 18001 is already well established and delivering results. Look here The trend in non-conformities detected during certification audits throughout 2019: the further away we are from the date of publication of the ISO 45001 standard, the fewer non-conformities the auditor finds.

ISO 45001: heading for an early revision?

Since 2018, the world of work has undergone significant changes. The pandemic COVID-19 has shifted the landscape. And in the field, through their audits of organizations that requested them, auditors have identified areas that need clarification. The technical committee that published the international standard (ISO/TC 283) therefore wishes to begin its revision immediately, without waiting for the systematic review scheduled for 2023. So, are we heading toward an update? The answer will be known at the end of the year. , announces Florence Saillet. If a revision proves necessary, it will begin in 2022. New points such as well-being at work, reintegration, and return to work should be added. These are topics on which France has spoken out and will continue to do so. 

See also our section on health and safety at work and our news item on ISO 45001, "ISO 45001 gets a makeover."