The Importance of Organisational Commitment to Protecting Workers
Take a look at some alarming statistics from the HSE (Key figures for Great Britain throughout 2019/20):
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1.6 million working people suffering from a work-related illness
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2,369 mesothelioma deaths due to past asbestos exposures (2019)
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142 workers killed at work (2020/21)
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693,000 working people sustain an injury at work according to the Labour Force Survey
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65,427 injuries to employees reported under RIDDOR
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38.8 million working days lost due to work-related illness and workplace injury
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£16.2 billion estimated cost of injuries and ill health from current working conditions (2018/19)
So, although in the UK we have a strong cultural acceptance of the need for Occupational Health & Safety, it's clear that we still need to develop our systems, processes and working practices, to face the challenges that are still present in our workplaces globally.
ISO 45001:2018; the replacement for OHSAS 18001, has been available since March 2018 and can be implemented to enhance your occupational health and sefaty performance.
ISO 45001 (OHS Management System Standard) has been designed to assist in meeting those challenges in a systematic and proactive manner, appropriate for all types and scale of organisations. The structure of the standard also now follows the same Annex SL structure of some of the more popular ISO standards such as ISO 9001 and ISO 14001. You can find our handy Annex SL comparison tool here.
Recent global events have demonstrated how quickly things in the world can change and how we can adapt which is why ISO 45001 is so important. The standard has supporting guidance for Occupational health and safety management in the form of Psychological health and safety at work for managing psychosocial risks / health, safety and well-being at work (ISO 45003:2021).
We at NQA want to work together with our clients to deliver enhanced and improved performance to protect workers.
If you are considering refreshing/migrating your OHS management system and are looking for external UKAS accreditation to ISO 45001:2018 or other ISO management standards, get in touch with a member of the team and they will be happy to help.
See below a range of tools to support your organisation with obtaining and managing ISO 45001:
