5.2 OH&S Policy [ISO 45001]

ISO 45001 OH&S Policy

The Top Management team should establish, implement and maintain an OH&S Policy.

Organizations must commit to “satisfy” legal and other requirements and must apply the hierarchy of controls to OH&S risks. The policy must be available as documented information.

OH&S Policy Communication

Your safety policy statement should emphasise communication and the participation of workers, across the organization; commit to satisfy legal and other requirements; and commit to the hierarchy of controls to OH&S risks.

You should check whether the policies have been communicated and understood throughout your organization. The policies must also be available to any relevant interested parties.

Auditors will wish to determine if the policies meet the intent and are understood, by interviewing personnel at all levels.

Staff Awareness of OH&S Policy

Although the exact content of the policies does not need to be recited by interviewees, the awareness of the policies and how their job affects the company objectives should be determined.

This does not require your employees to memorize the policies but it does mean they should be aware of it, know where it may be found and be able to paraphrase, or give an interpretation as it applies to them.

If the personnel interviewed do not know what their measurable objectives are and/or do not know what the organizational objectives are that they have a direct effect upon, the auditor would be further directed to evaluate Top Management’s communication of the policies and objectives.

Pomotion of the OH&S Policy

A quick and convenient way to promote and communicate the policy might be to create a shortened version of main policy; try condensing it to five key words or even a couple of short sentences. This can be posted on bulletin boards in each department.

You could even add it to the reverse side of staff security passes or ID badges. If an auditor asks an employee whether they are aware of the policy; they can point to the bulletin board or point to it on their badge. The employee can further elaborate to the auditor, what the policy means to them and how it influences their work.

Related Information You Might Find Useful

• ISO 9001 Quality Policy - How to Write & Communicate your Policy Statement
  5.2 Environmental Policy [ISO 14001]

Next ISO 45001 Clause

• 5.3 Organizational Roles, Responsibilities and Authorities

Each ISO 45001 Clause Explained

• Learn about ISO 45001

Updated: 23rd February 2022
Author: Richard Keen

Richard Keen

Richard is our Compliance Director, responsible for content & product development.
But most importantly he is ISO's biggest fanboy and a true evangelist of the standards.
Learn more about Richard

Don’t Try to Manage It All Alone!

 

Our ISO Auditors and Quality Manager Trainers have been in this industry for years, and since 2002 we’ve been providing thousands of small businesses and large corporations with the tools they need to get certified.

Instead of trying to create everything you need to follow this process from scratch, use ours. We have procedures, templates, checklists, process maps, forms and gap analysis tools to help your documentation without missing a single input or output.

Before you invest all the hours reinventing the wheel, before you spend countless dollars outsourcing the task — try our templates.