When employees continue to get injured on the job, it costs not only time but money and even loss of projects. Implementing an ISO 45001:2018 Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) Management System can help establish a good health and safety culture, starting with the leadership of all the workers within the organization. It all starts with the culture of the organization. All organizations have a safety culture, either a good or bad one.
To successfully implement ISO 45001 it is critical to establish a clear safety culture. Safety culture begins with the leaders, typically including Top Management, but can also be anyone within the organization that others follow. Management will need to establish a Health and Safety Policy that is focused on the prevention of work-related injuries or illnesses. When decisions are being made by management health and safety should always be factored in. Profits should never be put over the health and safety of the organization and employees.
Discontinuing the practice of reprimanding employees for incidences that are reported will encourage reporting of future incidences and gain employee participation. A good health and safety culture starts with gaining employee buy-in and participation. Consider establishing a Health and Safety Team to gain employee participation at all levels within the organization. Actively solicit employee feedback through formal and informal feedback systems. Consult with employees to find out where the issues are and, in many cases, how to address them. A good Health and Safety culture isn’t driven by incentive programs, but by a desire to be safe.
Organizations that achieve ISO 45001 certification experience several benefits, including:
• Qualify for projects that require a health and safety program
• Reduce workplace incidents and incident rates
• Reduce absenteeism, staff turnover which leads to unproductivity
• Reduce cost of insurance premiums and safety ratings (Experience Modification Rating)
• Establish a healthy culture of health and safety
• Reinforce leadership and employee participation
• Comply with legal and regulatory requirements, such as OSHA
• Safety reputation within the industry
• Improved employee morale
• Establish a healthy and safe workplace.
ISO 45001 is more than just a management system standard. It is a powerful tool that organizations can implement to drive a positive change in the health and safety of their workplace. Together, organizations around the world will be able to create better working conditions for their most important asset – their employees. Read our article for an Overview of ISO 45001:2018 or contact us to learn about getting ISO 45001:2018 certified. Read additional news articles here.
