For Occupational Health and Safety (OH&S) management systems, ISO 45001 is the most commonly used standard. It is meant to help organizations improve their OH&S performance and prevent occupational disease and injury. It lays out the requirements for a successful OH&S management system. An ISO 45001 audit checklist is a tool for assessing an organization's OH&S management system and figuring out how well it follows the ISO 45001 standard.
Despite being an improvement over the previous OHSAS 18001 standard, ISO 45001 differs in a few key ways. Organizations' perspectives on risk and safety will need to be drastically altered for them to comply with the new regulations. It desires to draw attention to two crucial elements of the standard. The latest IS0 45001 standard mandates a commitment to safety that is top-down. Through the integration of safety and health into an organization's management structure, ISO 45001 holds top executives responsible for the well-being of their workforce.
Secondly, the standard emphasizes risk management more. ISO 45001 mandates businesses to utilize a risk-based approach to proactively identify causes or circumstances that have the potential to cause harm, in contrast to OHSAS 18001, which primarily focuses on controlling identified risks. It's part of a larger trend where risk management is becoming ingrained in every aspect of a business's operations.
Since it includes all of the essential components of the ISO 45001 standard, businesses can utilize an ISO 45001 audit checklist to get ready for ISO certifications. A generic ISO 45001 audit checklist template can be used as a guiding tool by an organization to assess its OH&S management system and determine the extent to which it conforms to the ISO 45001 standard. Furthermore, companies can use this checklist to prepare for ISO 45001 certifications by going over relevant ISO 45001 audit questions based on its main clauses.
The ISO 45001 audit checklist is designed to help the auditor refer to the crucial sections that need to be verified and are included in the audit program. The auditee may also utilize the audit checklist as a reference to help them get ready for the audit. The auditor should produce an audit checklist as part of the audit planning process. The following factors should be considered while creating an ISO 45001 audit checklist:
- Depth and Scope of the Audit
- Applicable ISO 45001 standards, legal, client, and internal specifications
- Specified criteria and an audit plan
The ISO audit checklist needs to be able to show both the requirements that haven't been satisfied and the instances where the standard requirements have been met. This is usually a sign of compliance or non-compliance with the relevant terms. The ISO 45001 Audit Checklist is frequently used in the following scenarios:
- Regular internal audits: The audit checklist can be used by organizations to do routine internal audits to make sure that the ISO 45001 standard is being followed and to find areas that need improvement.
- Third-party certification audits: The audit checklist is a useful tool for organizations looking to get third-party certification for their OHS management system. It helps them get ready for and go through the certification audit.
- Continuous improvement: By routinely evaluating and upgrading the company's OHS management system, the audit checklist can be a useful tool for continuous improvement.
- Due diligence: Employers can show that they have taken the necessary steps to maintain a safe and healthy work environment by using the audit checklist, as required by stakeholders, clients, or regulators.
- Preparing for a safety audit: Organizations can utilize the ISO 45001 Audit Checklist to get ready for an insurance company or regulatory body safety audit.
These are a few of the ISO 45001 Audit Checklist's most typical usage scenarios. Employers may demonstrate compliance, assess and enhance their OHS management system, and guarantee a safe and healthy work environment for all workers, subcontractors, and guests by utilizing this tool.
