ISO 45001:2018 with Amendment 1:2024
ISO 45001: Occupational health and safety
ISO 45001 shows that you identify hazards, control risks, involve your workers and learn from incidents. For trades and construction firms it is the strongest proof of safety management a client can ask for, and certification to it can support SSIP and Common Assessment Standard applications.
Who needs it
- Construction and trades businesses working on client or main contractor sites
- Firms that want to stand out beyond SSIP at prequalification
- Businesses with high-risk activities (work at height, hot works, confined spaces)
How long it takes
3–6 months, often combined with ISO 9001 and 14001 in one integrated system
Check your readinessWhat each clause requires
Clause numbers follow the standard. Summaries are our own plain-English explanation; buy the standard itself from BSI or ISO for the exact wording.
Clause 4: Context of the organisation
4.1 Understanding the organisation and its context
Identify the internal and external issues that affect your health and safety performance, including whether climate change is relevant to you.
4.2 Needs and expectations of interested parties
List the people and organisations that care about your health and safety performance (clients, regulators, workers, neighbours) and what they require of you.
4.3 Scope of the management system
Write down which sites, activities and services the OH&S management system covers, and justify anything left out.
4.4 OH&S management system
Establish and maintain the OH&S management system and the processes it needs.
Clause 5: Leadership
5.1 Leadership and commitment
Top management must own the OH&S management system: provide resources, integrate it into day-to-day work and be accountable for its results.
5.2 OH&S policy
A signed health and safety policy that suits your business, commits to meeting requirements and to improvement, and is communicated to staff.
5.3 Roles, responsibilities and authorities
Assign who is responsible for the OH&S management system and for reporting on its performance.
5.4 Consultation and participation of workers
Involve workers in hazard identification, incident investigation and decisions about safety, and remove barriers to taking part.
Clause 6: Planning
6.1.2 Hazard identification and assessment of risks
Identify hazards in routine and non-routine work and assess the risks, including to visitors and the public.
6.1.3 Legal and other requirements
Identify the health and safety law that applies to you, such as CDM 2015, Work at Height and COSHH.
6.2 OH&S objectives
Set measurable safety objectives with plans to achieve them.
Clause 7: Support
7.1 Resources
Provide the people, equipment and premises the OH&S management system needs.
7.2 Competence
Decide what competence each role needs, make sure people have it, and keep records.
7.3 Awareness
Staff know the health and safety policy, how they contribute and what happens if they do not follow the system.
7.4 Communication
Decide what you communicate about health and safety, when, to whom and how.
7.5 Documented information
Control your documents and records: version, approve, store, protect and retire them properly.
Clause 8: Operation
8.1.2 Eliminating hazards and reducing risks
Apply the hierarchy of controls: eliminate, substitute, engineer, administer, then PPE.
8.1.3 Management of change
Assess safety before changing processes, equipment, sites or legal requirements.
8.1.4 Procurement, contractors and outsourcing
Make sure the safety of what you buy and of the subcontractors you use is controlled.
8.2 Emergency preparedness and response
Plan for emergencies, provide first aid and test the plans.
Clause 9: Performance evaluation
9.1 Monitoring, measurement, analysis and evaluation
Decide what health and safety performance you measure, how often, and how you analyse the results.
9.1.2 Evaluation of compliance
Check periodically that you comply with health and safety law and record the result.
9.2 Internal audit
Audit your own OH&S management system at planned intervals against the standard and your own procedures.
9.3 Management review
Top management reviews the OH&S management system at planned intervals, covering the inputs the standard lists, and records decisions.
Clause 10: Improvement
10.2 Incident, nonconformity and corrective action
When something goes wrong, contain it, find the root cause, fix it so it does not recur, and check the fix worked.
10.3 Continual improvement
Show that the OH&S management system gets better over time.
Keep all of this evidence in one place
The Certwell Evidence Vault links every record to the requirement it proves, reminds you before anything expires, and gives your auditor a read-only link.
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