What means Occupational Health and Safety ?
Occupational health and safety (OH&S) is a highly regulated field. It also involves various employee representative bodies (IRP). In addition to the laws and decrees contained in the French Labor Code, several voluntary standards, such as those published by AFNOR, ISO and CEN, deal directly with OHS and define it in operational terms. This is the case of ISO 45001, for example, which specifies in its terminology section that an “OHS policy” is a “policy aimed at preventing work-related injuries and illnesses among workers and providing safe and healthy workplaces”. Another definition, which gets to the heart of the matter, is “occupational health and safety risk”, which is the “combination of the probability of occurrence of (a) hazardous work-related event(s) or exposure(s), and the severity of injuries and pathologies that may be caused by the event(s) or exposure(s)”.
Why and how to train ?
The ILO estimates that, worldwide, more than 2.3 million people lose their lives every year as a result of occupational accidents and diseases. The ILO also estimates that the human cost of poor occupational health and safety practices represents 4% of gross domestic product every year. This is why health and safety in the workplace is a fundamental concern for most companies.
The new ISO 45001 standard is a must for all those wishing to learn about OHS. It enables you to learn how to deploy an OHS approach within your organization, thanks to a management system aimed at continuous improvement. AFNOR Compétences also offers more specific training courses on electrical and ATEX authorizations, as well as industrial risk prevention.
What is an OHS management system?
A management system is a type of organization set up within a company, or an organization in the broadest sense. Applied to OHS, a management system is a set of interrelated or interacting elements of an organization, used to establish occupational health and safety policies, objectives and processes to achieve these objectives.
An OHS management system aims to achieve three objectives: continuous improvement of OHS performance (i.e. measured results), satisfaction of legal requirements and any other requirements defined by the organization concerned, and achievement of OHS objectives.
Companies are not obliged to set up an OHS management system. It’s a voluntary approach that puts a project at the heart of the company’s operations, following a PDCA logic (Plan Do Check Act). ISO management system standards all adopt this approach.
How to anticipate OHS problems?
Management system standards such as ISO 9001 (quality), ISO 14001 (environment), ISO 50001 (energy) and, of course, ISO 45001 (occupational health and safety), require us to reflect on the context in which our organization evolves, beyond the production of goods or services in the strict sense of the term, whether the organization is a company, a local authority or other.
The aim is twofold: firstly, to determine the internal and external contextual factors that could have an impact on QSE objectives. Secondly, to identify the relevant stakeholders, i.e. the players on whom the proper performance of activities depends. Forcing yourself to ask these kinds of questions raises awareness. It’s about prevention, not cure. Previous versions of management system standards might have led us to wait until we had experienced something before drawing conclusions and improving. Now, with this type of questioning, we anticipate the major issues that will have – or could have – an impact on expected results. Priorities are defined from the outset, to feed into policy and objectives, in line with corporate strategy.
What is ISO 45001?
Since March 2018, occupational health and safety (OH&S) management has had its own voluntary international standard: ISO 45001, the result of four years of debate involving more than sixty countries. It offers a new way of significantly improving the prevention of work-related accidents, injuries, musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs), stress-related disorders and fatigue… and thus helping the body to become more competitive.
Who wrote ISO 45001?
Like all voluntary standards, ISO 45001 was co-written by users, for the blow from all over the world. It was approved by 93% of the countries represented in a final vote on January 25, 2018. The AFNOR commission, which represented France, was able to express its position and bend certain passages to defend its ideas. In the end, it noted that the text takes into account the basic principles of prevention to which it is particularly attached.
Participation in the co-writing and revision of voluntary standards is open to all.
Is ISO 45001 restrictive?
Preconceived ideas die hard. When it comes to standards, many people think “mandatory, rigid, standardized”. And yet, the international standard ISO 45001 continues to prove just the opposite.
As a certification body, we can’t help but notice the diversity of organizations that use it, voluntarily. This ISO standard is used by guarding, public works, handling and service companies. ISO 45001 is often combined with other quality or environmental standards, depending on the challenges faced by the organization. Why is this? Quite simply because it does not lay down requirements in terms of means. By not being prescriptive, it leaves organizations free to define how to implement a high-performance occupational health and safety approach. A fine foil to those who still think that standards are restrictive!
Why get OH&S certification?
There are two types of OHS certification: one for the organization, one for the individual.
For an organization, displaying occupational health and safety certification indicates compliance with regulations and effective organization for progress. It’s a differentiating factor when it comes to winning market share. It’s also an effective way of supporting employees’ efforts. Certification is a reward for all those who contribute to its success.
AFNOR Certification audits punctuate the continuous improvement process. It’s a simple way to better manage occupational risks by improving the safety of your workers and reducing workplace hazards. ISO 45001 certification helps to develop the sharing of best practices between employees, and contributes to improving the organization’s performance by creating better working conditions.
For an individual, certification is proof of competence in OHS and auditing. It is a recognized means of gaining recognition for know-how, and thus of offering services. This is the case in the field of integrated QSE management, for companies with a multi-faceted approach (ISO 9001, ISO 14001 and ISO 45001 – formerly OHSAS 18001), and more specifically in occupational health and safety.
Which organizations are involved in OHS?
Organizations of all kinds are getting involved in OHS. ISO 45001 is universal in scope, since it is the result of an agreement between a number of countries with different experiences, practices, cultures and legislation. It is therefore just as well suited to very small businesses, SMEs, ETIs and large groups, as it is to public bodies and professional federations. ISO 45001 is designed to be applicable to all organizations, whatever their size, product or service, or sector of activity. The proof: those who have gone so far as to be certified present a very diverse profile, like the Moroccan pharmaceutical laboratory Afric-Phar or electronic components manufacturer Axon Cable.
Our regional delegations are organizing free information meetings to present this standard and how it can be deployed within your organization.
What are the risks in OH&S?
The AFNOR group does not keep an index of OHS risks, but we can share feedback from organizations that are training in OHS or requesting ISO 45001 audits. Occupational health and safety risks are specific to each activity, each profession, each context.
ISO 45001 requires organizations to carry out an analysis of OHS risks and the resulting opportunities. What do these two concepts mean? Risk is defined as the effect of uncertainty, implying a cause-and-effect relationship between a certain number of determinants (legal, social, societal, etc.) and their consequences on the expected outcome. Opportunities, on the other hand, cover the efforts to be made in relation to the expected benefits. If a company has to make a lot of effort and the expected gains are low, the opportunity is not worth exploiting. On the other hand, if the potential benefits are substantial, then there is an opportunity to be seized, and its apprehension will condition the planning of actions.
The main advantage of this approach is to focus on issues identified as strategic priorities by the organization. It’s better to carry out fewer actions, but to target them more effectively in terms of the performance you’re aiming for, than to want to deal with everything and spread yourself too thinly over too many subjects.
ISO 45001 does not impose any specific method to help you assess risks and opportunities. Very often, the notions of frequency and severity are used, as they are well known in the health and safety field for linking cause and effect. For each risk in your management system, you can define the frequency of exposure and the severity of the impact on the management system. In the same way, the questioning used for the construction of the Single Document (DU) on the risks identified in the company and their rating will be useful for prioritizing those that need to be taken into account.
The risks and opportunities approach is a real decision-making tool, helping to define priorities. Previously, certain preventive actions could be formalized by chance, in a passive logic. QSE standards, on the other hand, use the notion of opportunity to help organizations understand the benefits of taking advantage of a situation.
How does an ISO 45001 audit work?
ISO 45001 company certification is issued for a period of 3 years, with an annual follow-up audit, in accordance with the rules of the accreditation body and the IAF at international level.
AFNOR Certification auditors carry out their audit and send the report, together with a certification proposal (certification, maintenance, renewal, withdrawal) to the authorized decision-making experts. The latter study the reports and make their decisions on the basis of the report, in accordance with the accreditation rules set out in the 17021-x series of standards.
For ISO 45001, a renewal or follow-up external audit is carried out annually. Contact our teams to find out the cost and obtain a quote.
Designed by a group of experts in the field, this highly instructive application guide takes the reader step by step through the preparation of an ISO 45001 certification audit. Definitions, analysis of the standard’s requirements, pitfalls to avoid, questions to ask, the auditor’s approach and posture… Illustrations and examples provide a better understanding of ISO 45001, and help to make the certification audit less dramatic.
How do you start an OH&S program?
Don’t start from scratch! Voluntary standards are there to save you time: they provide you with proven approaches, developed by experts in the field, in a collegial and shared manner. These are the most legitimate and consensual approaches.
If you’d like to get started on your OHS journey, buy the ISO 45001 standard and take part in an information workshop (free of charge). It’s the easiest way to get your foot in the door. Our training courses will enable you to increase your skills and legitimately support the OHS approach within your organization. ISO 45001 certification is obviously a way of formalizing your approach.
How do you keep a watch on OH&S?
OHS regulatory monitoring concerns all companies, whatever their size, geographical area or field of activity. Regulatory compliance is the first obligation in any risk management approach in these fields. Failure to comply can have a major impact on your company: administrative or even criminal sanctions, non-quality, customer or stakeholder dissatisfaction, non-certification…
Discover our COBAZ solution, an online tool specifically designed to set up a regulatory watch, as required by NF EN ISO 14001 and ISO 45001. The tool also enables you to track your compliance in a very simple way.
