How to Prepare for the ISO 45001 Certification Audit
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How to Prepare for the ISO 45001 Certification Audit
Implementing an Occupational Health & Safety Management System (OHSMS) using ISO 45001:2018 takes time, effort, and resources. Getting it up and running is just the start. Maintaining and improving your system is crucial. If you’ve chosen to have a certification audit by an outside certification body, you’ll want to ensure you pass the audit. So, how do you prepare?
Implementing the OHSMS for Successful Certification
First, ensure that you’ve addressed all the elements in the requirements standard within your system:
Understand the Scope: Do you understand the scope of your OHSMS?
OH&S Policy: Do you have a policy to identify the overall intention and direction of the company’s OHSMS?
OH&S Objectives: Do you have objectives to work toward improving your OHSMS?
Legal Requirements: Do you have a method to understand and keep up to date with OH&S legal requirements?
Hazards and Risks: Have your OH&S hazards been identified and the associated risks assessed?
In short, is your system fully implemented and working? Monitoring, improvement, and review are essential to know if it’s working properly.
Monitoring, Improvement, and Review of the OHSMS
Internal audits, corrective action, and management review are required processes. They confirm the system’s processes meet set arrangements, identify and fix problems, and review and assign resources where needed. These processes are critical in preparing for your certification audit.
Implementing the OHSMS for Successful Certification
When preparing for the certification body’s audit, consider these processes:
Internal Audits:
Ensure all processes within your OHSMS meet the planned arrangements. Perform at least one complete cycle of audits, covering every process.Corrective Action:
Address problems found during audits. Document how you address these problems. Ensure you find and fix the root cause of complex problems to prevent recurrence.Improvement Processes:
Track progress on your OH&S objectives. If you aim to reduce OH&S near misses by 5%, show the certification body your progress.Management Review:
Involve top management in reviewing the OHSMS’s progress. Address any problems and resource constraints. Management commitment is essential.
The Best Preparation: Using System Processes to Improve
The best way to prepare for a certification audit is to use the OHSMS processes and procedures. Performing internal audits, corrective actions, improvements, and management reviews prepares you for the certification auditors. It also sets you up to maintain and improve your OHSMS over time. Improving your system was the goal when implementing an OHSMS, wasn’t it?
