Get to know ISO 45001: Occupational Health & Safety

An employee’s working environment impacts their physical and mental health. To strive towards a positive working experience for employees, employers can implement standards through a culture of proactive management when it comes to health and safety concerns.

ISO 45001: An Overview

ISO 45001 is the international standard for Occupational Health and Safety (OHS). It includes a framework to improve workplace safety and reduce overall risk to protect employee welfare. By achieving this ISO accreditation, a business is actively stating their intention for their staff to take a pragmatic approach to tasks, instilling a culture of well-being and compliance.

Core principles and Benefits

To create a workplace with OHS at its core, the importance of Hazard Identification and conducting Risk Assessments cannot be understated. To get buy-in from employees, Leadership from the top is required, with emphasis on Continuous Improvement and Preparedness from an individual and business-wide perspective. 

So, what are some of the benefits of deciding on achieving the ISO-45001?

      • Lower likelihood of workplace incidents with preventive measures taken
      • Improved employee engagement and morale
      • Enhanced reputation and marketability by committing to safety

Let's hear from a Flex-pert

What does FlexManager do to create a “Safety first” mindset? We asked our Director of Business Development
“Whether it is a new employee being onboarded, or someone visiting our office, we ensure that they are informed of what is expected so that not only them, but everyone feels safe in our shared environment. Signage relating to safety is visible as soon as you open the door, and everyone is aware of evacuation procedures in the unlikely event that one arises.”

“The onus is on us to express the importance of health and safety, but really after an initial induction session, everyone is receptive share the mindset that employees deserve to have a safe environment when at work.”

Having a common goal of a safer workplace, why does it matter?

While it may appear to be little more than a “tick the box” exercise to ask employees to follow workplace procedures, failing to emphasize the importance of OHS standards can result in:

      • Workplace accidents, which can culminate in legal, financial, and reputational damage for a business
      • Lower employee retention/high turnover if OHS is not perceived to be a priority for the business

The core of ISO 45001 is to prevent incidents before they occur. A mentality is created behind the ideology that if an issue, or even a potential issue is identified, it will be resolved to protect employees.

At FlexManager, our ISO accreditations are achievements that we hold dear. This is the fourth segment of this series, where we are sharing how our ISO accreditations have contributed to our Flex-pedition to provide the highest standard of quality, security, and efficiency to our customers. We look forward sharing our next installation, which will look at ISO 27001: Information security, Cybersecurity, and Privacy protection.

Authored by Gearoid Noone

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