ISO 45001 vs OHSAS 18001: Major Differences Explained

OHSAS 18001

ISO 45001

It was published in 1999 by BSI, British Standards Institution. It was primarily to improve adherence to requirements that were related to health and safety.

ISO 45001 was the Occupational Health and Safety Management Systems based on ISO management standards. 

Structure is not based on Annex SL

Structure of ISO 45001 is based on Annex SL which is the high level structure (HLS) i.e. Clause 1 to 10 similar to ISO 9001, ISO 14001, etc. High level structures across standard is a beneficial approach when organizations intend to implement multiple standard. There are many overlaps across clauses in the HLS standard which can be clubbed in one and the implementation is eased out. It is a win-win for the organization too. 

Implementation focuses on procedure

Implementation focuses on processes

Standard has a Reactive approach

Standard is designed in a way to be Risk-based proactive approach

Involvement of top management/ leadership commitment is not mandatory requirement 

Involvement of Top Management/ leadership commitment is required

Stakeholder involvement is not specified

Stakeholders such as workers, customers, suppliers, contractors’, etc involvement is required

Applicability was seen across specific procedures only

Applicability of this standard span across systems and represented as interrelation of processes

Focus is on risks only

Focus on risks as well as opportunities 

Flexibility of OHSAS implementation at varied organizations (size and type) is slightly limited

ISO 45001 could be applied to organizations of any type/size

Clause

Description

Terms and definitions

Health has got itself a whole new meaning wherein overall wellbeing of workers is encouraged taking into account physical, mental and emotional wellbeing. It also encourages us to take into account social factors impacting well being of the workers. 

Definitions are redefined for many of the terms, in fact only 3 such terms are similar in both the standards. 

Clause 4

Context of the Organization with sub clauses namely

• “Understanding the organization and its context”

• “Understanding the needs and expectations of interested parties”

Organizations are expected to identify the challenges as well as risks related to occupational health and safety including issues be it internal and external also relevant interested parties for the same.

Clause 5

• Demonstration of leadership commitment by top management 

• Definition of “Workers” include managers, non managerial staff as well as top leadership team

• Everyone to be involve in Decision making process

Clause 6

• Replacement of preventive actions and reduction in the need for corrective actions

• Focus shifted towards risks and opportunities

Clause 7

• Requirements of the clause 7 encompasses resources, competence, awareness, communication and documented information.

• Documentation plays a major role in ensuring that workers are informed on the requirements and also a backup is maintained for the achieving the set objectives and management plans

• “Documents and records” is now Documented Information

Clause 8

• No major changes.

• But exclusive requirements for Procurement, Contractors, outsourced processes are mentioned. 

• Organizations must have stringent processes in place to control the outsourced processes. This also extended to the good and services procurement that can impact Occupational health and safety of the organization. 

Clause 9

• Performance Evaluation needs consideration of monitoring requirements, analysis, compliance evaluation, internal audits, management reviews, etc including how and when to do it.

• It also requires to establish, implement and maintain a process for OHSMS monitoring, measurement and performance evaluation

Clause 10

• It requires consideration of incidents, incident investigation, non conformities, corrective actions, continual improvement