ISO 45001 Certification in South Africa is an international standard set by the International Organization of Standardization which focuses on Occupational Health and Safety (OH&S). The first working draft of ISO 45001 was shaped in October 2013 and the final draft was published on 12^th March 2018.

ISO 45001 is based on and is set to replace the OHSAS 18001 standard. While OHSAS 18001 was procedure-based, ISO 45001 is process-based and it aims to promote health and safety at the workplace. ISO 45001 has already been adopted as a national standard by many countries including South Africa.

Need for ISO 45001 

2.7 million workers died due to workplace injuries or diseases in the year 2017, which was a significant rise from the 2.4 million in 2014.  In just three short years there was a rise of 20% in fatalities. This shows that 7,500 people die every day because of the poor working environment.

Furthermore, there are over 374 million non-fatal injuries that are work-related each year. These are injuries such as overexertion, slips, trips, falls, equipment-contact, and exposure to harmful chemicals. These injuries not only result in a minimum of 4 days of absence from work which also harms the business productivity, but it also causes a lot of expense on insurance cost for each injured employee.

Therefore, workplace safety should be treated as a priority to minimize these fatalities and protect the staff and the business. ISO 45001 in South Africa was implemented in order to protect the staff and guests from any such work-related accidents and illnesses.

ISO 45001 in South Africa not only focuses on the physical mishaps at the workplace but also on the protection and promotion of the mental health of employees. Therefore, ISO 45001 Certification in South Africa is an important step-up for organizations that want to provide risk-free, safe, and overall improved working conditions for their employees. ISO 45001 has the potential to save about three million lives every year.

ISO 45001 in South Africa is designed similar to the other ISO management systems such as ISO 14001 or ISO 9001.

ISO 45001 focuses on the interface between an organization and its occupational environment, whereas OHSAS 18001 used to focus on only handling internal issues and Occupational Health and Safety hazards.

Improved Occupational Safety will also help boost investor confidence and help run a business effectively.

Although ISO 45001 in South Africa is not mandatory by law, it will help an organization stand out as an industry leader in competitive international trade.

ISO 45001 Hazard Controls levels 

Essentially, this hierarchy outlines the order of controls to be considered. It does not have any criteria for the hierarchy, one may just choose to implement just one of the controls or select a combination of several of them.

Once the organization has identified their occupational hazards they need to:

1.     Elimination – adopt a strategy to eradicate the hazard.
2.     Substitution – substitute the hazardous element with a less dangerous one.
3.     Engineering controls – introduce engineering tools to minimize any safety hazards.
4.     Signage, warnings, and/or administrative controls – the organization needs to start using safety signs.
5.     Personal protective equipment (PPE) – implementation of usage of safety gear.

Through the implementation of the ISO 45001 standard, your organization can protect your employees at the workplace while improving your business performance.

The International Organization for Standardization only sets the ISO standards and our expert ISO Consultants at FINECERT will help you obtain the ISO 45001 Certification in South Africa in a specific timeframe.

Details about Finecert

Finecert is a leading organization with a great team of ISO consultants that have expertise in getting organizations ISO certified. We provide a very cost-effective service and employ a transparent approach in dealing with our clients.

ISO in South Africa is one of the many overseas operations we undertake and we wish to help the organizations in South Africa get ISO certified in order to stand out and gain a competitive edge. Finecert has a global presence and we have operations in many countries including the Middle East, Asia, and many other African countries.

To know all about ISO certification and consultation in South Africa, you can write to us or request a quote at  contact@finecert.com  or visit our website www.finecert.com to check all the other ISO services we provide in South Africa.