Get ISO 45001 certified in four easy steps

In this LHConsulting blog post we will talk through the key steps in obtaining an ISO 45001 certificate.

Are you being asked to obtain ISO 45001 certification?

Are you struggling to keep up to date with applicable health & safety legislation?

Then you have come to the right place!

What is ISO 45001?

Before we start lets quickly run through what ISO 45001 is…

ISO 45001 is the internationally recognised standard for Health & Safety Management Systems (HSMS). Designed to be a business tool for health & safety legal compliance ISO 45001 can help you to achieve the following:

• Win more business and compete better in tenders
• Comply with applicable health & safety legislation
• Define and control health & safety risks
• Better monitor resource usage

Although simple this will now give you a better understanding of what ISO 45001 is and what it’s trying to achieve.

Step one

So the first thing you need to do is implement an HSMS. This should be written in accordance with the requirements of ISO 45001:2018. Although they vary slightly, a typical HSMS includes the following…

• Health & safety policy manual
• Health & safety policy statement
• Documented procedures
• Health & safety legislation register
• Risk Assessments

If you know how to implement one of these then that is great! However, this is the reason why companies will then employ the support of an external consultancy – Such as LHConsulting to help them implement their HSMS. In addition to this they can also take you through to certification and beyond!

Step two

The next thing to do is ensure that your HSMS meets the requirements the standard. The most effective way to do this is through a comprehensive audit. An audit of your HSMS may include looking at the following…

• Health & safety management system
• Management review
• Training documents
• Health & safety legislation register
• Emergency preparedness & response plans
• Risk assessment documentation
• Compliance with applicable health & safety legislation

To carry out the audit you can either employ an external consultancy or do it yourself. However, if you are going to carry it out in-house you may want to train that member of staff in ISO 45001 internal auditing.

If you want further information on ISO 45001 internal auditing and training courses Get in touch and I can give you some recommendations.

Step three

Once the HSMS has been implemented you need to conduct a management review meeting. This meeting should review the effectiveness of the HSMS. In addition to this top management should be in attendance.

Typical discussion points for the meeting would be…

• Health & safety objectives
• Effectiveness of the HSMS
• Compliance with legislation
• Health & safety issues

To carry out the management review meeting you can either employ an external consultancy or do it yourself. However, if you are going to carry it out in-house you need to ensure you follow the agenda set within the standard.

If you do not have a copy then Get in touch and I can point you in the right direction.

Step four

The final stage is to pass your assessment!

As easy as that?

Well you will need to make sure that your HSMS is up to date, well resourced and that your compliant with applicable health & safety legislation. Once this is done you can select a certification body to conduct the assessment. I would recommend going out to a few UKAS accredited certification bodies. This will ensure that you get the best value for money.

The initial certification process is split into two parts as follows…

• Stage One – This is usually more of a desktop review to assess whether the company have all key documentation in place as required by ISO 45001. It will be more focused upon documentation rather than your operations.
• Stage Two – This is more focused upon your operational activities rather than documentation and may involve the auditor reviewing your sales, purchasing, manufacturing and after sales processes.

If you pass the above assessments without any major problems, then you will then be awarded an ISO 45001 certificate.

I really hope this post helped!

LHConsulting is a physical and online ISO Management Systems Consultancy. We support businesses and individuals to make compliance easy. We also have a range of electronic products in our shop that can help you achieve ISO 45001 in your company. You can visit the ISO 45001 shop by clicking here