With 2.78 million people being killed worldwide each year by work-related injury or ill health, the new global standard can encourage “much-needed solutions”, according to the Institution of Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH).
Organisations which adopt the standard – which has been four-and-a-half years in the making – will be required to have proportionate safety and health management systems which prevent injury and ill health among their workforce and throughout their supply chains.
Richard Jones, Head of Policy and Public Affairs at IOSH, said this means leaders will have to ensure it is integral to their strategies and operations. He said: “This really is a landmark day for occupational safety and health. ISO 45001 can enhance the drive towards a safe and healthy world of work.
“Having an agreed international standard can help ensure consistency and encourage much-needed solutions to the myriad of safety and health risks that exist in workplaces around the globe.
“Any organisation seeking to improve its OSH management can adopt the principles of ISO 45001, whether or not they seek certification. And of course, certification is only the start of an ongoing continual improvement process and not an end. It’s about ensuring real culture change, effective action and OSH competence across organisations.”
This new standard gives OSH professionals a fantastic opening to transform safety and health and ensure it receives the strategic attention and resources it deserves.