The Importance of ISO 45001 Certification in Ensuring Safe Construction Sites

Construction sites are inherently dangerous places. One way to ensure that safety measures get taken seriously is to obtain ISO 45001 certification. This internationally recognized standard outlines the requirements for an effective Occupational Health and Safety Management System (OHSMS), and achieving certification can provide numerous benefits to construction companies and their employees.

In this article, we will discuss the importance of ISO 45001 certification in ensuring safe construction sites, and why it's worth considering obtaining ISO 45001 certification for any construction company.

What is ISO 45001?

ISO 45001 is the International Standard for occupational health and safety management. It replaces the OHSAS 18001 Standard, and organizations that gain ISO 45001 certification can demonstrate that their business meets the best occupational health and safety management practices set out by International Standards.

These best practices aim to reduce the risk and incidence of workplace accidents, improve safety, and improve your organization's performance and efficiency. By demonstrating your compliance with ISO 45001, your organization can show its commitment to the most stringent health and safety standards and assure employees, visitors and customers that you value the safety and well-being of everyone within your organization.

What are the requirements of ISO 45001?

To meet the standards of ISO 45001, organizations must demonstrate that they meet seven distinct requirements set out in the standards. These requirements are:

• Context of the Organization: This includes internal and external factors impacting your business. For example, you will have to be aware of the internal and external factors that might affect the health and safety of the people within your organization and how they could affect visitors, sub-contractors, and other stakeholders.
• Leadership: Leaders within the organization work towards delivering the standards set out in ISO 45001 by communicating with team members, allocating safety roles, and assuming responsibility for achieving safety standards.
• Planning: Your organization must adapt to changes that affect health and safety within the business. This process requires in-advance planning to establish how to react when health and safety risks within the workplace become identified.
• Support: As an organization, you are required to support team leaders and members within your business to ensure that health and safety management systems can be run and maintained properly at all times. This could include providing your staff with PPE or introducing health and safety software to help your staff to manage safety in the workplace.
• Operation: Your business must assess existing procedures and operations to ensure that they meet current standards, and you must plan how you will respond to emergencies and risks that occur as part of your regular business operations. This requires regular formal risk assessments.
• Performance evaluation: ISO 45001 requires organizations to evaluate occupational health and safety performance against specific criteria and record these results to show proactive health and safety management and monitoring.
• Improvement: Your organization should show steady improvement over time, as this demonstrates that you're always seeking to improve your health and safety performance and comply with new safety standards as they get established.

What are the benefits to construction companies of gaining ISO 45001 certification?

ISO 45001 certification demonstrates your organization's commitment to health and safety without question. ISO 45001 is the international benchmark of health and safety standards, and it's recognized worldwide as a stamp of quality. By obtaining ISO 45001 certification, your organization could:

• Reduce the risks of accidents and injuries occurring in the workplace
• Establish controls to ensure that you comply with legal obligations
• Enhance your professional reputation and credibility
• Increase awareness of good health and safety among employees
• Reduce absenteeism and staff turnover rates by boosting safety
• Reduce your business's insurance premiums
• Improve your chance of winning contracts
• Reduce the risk of construction delays and disruptions caused by accidents

Gaining ISO 45001 certification is a 'win-win' proposition for most construction companies, who can both demonstrate their commitment to safety to current and future employees while saving time and money in the long run by reducing the risk of accidents and time off work, both of which can cause serious delays and disruptions to construction projects.

Why ISO 45001 is important on construction sites

Construction sites are some of the most dangerous workplaces in the world. The United Nations' International Labour Organisation (ILO) reports that every year, 2.8 million worker deaths occur worldwide, including 6,500 deaths from work-related diseases and 1,000 deaths from occupational accidents.

ISO 45001 is important on construction sites because it's the best way for construction site managers to ensure that their site meets the regulatory requirements for an effective health and safety system. In work environments as dynamic, chaotic, and busy as construction sites, accurately predicting and identifying risks can only be possible with a regimented system that helps leaders standardize the risk management process.

Obtaining ISO 45001 certification ensures that your team can plan ahead, implement risk management protocols and action health and safety procedures when needed without hesitation or doubts. By committing to meeting the standards set out in ISO 45001, managers can ensure that every team member at every level stays accountable for their role in maintaining good health and safety onsite.

How to obtain ISO 45001 certification

Obtaining ISO 45001 certification can be simple, but most construction sites only comply with ISO 45001 if conscious efforts have been made to meet the standard's requirements.

Undertaking ISO 45001 training and conducting internal audits can help you comply with ISO 45001. Audit certification courses aim to close the gap between your existing health and safety practices and those required by the standards.

At QAS International, we can help you to obtain your ISO 45001 certification. We provide ISO services internationally, and our expert auditors are committed to maintaining the highest standards of health and safety in construction sites and organizations around the world.

Find out more about our ISO 45001 services, or get in touch with us to discuss our services.