ISO 45001 Occupational Health and Safety Management System

Bulletin date:
Bulletin number:
2018-11

Action required

All accredited management systems certification bodies who are currently certifying organizations to OHSAS 18001 Occupational Health and Safety Management must transition those certifications to ISO 45001 by March 12th, 2021. In order to accomplish this, a two-step approach will be used. The two-step approach will also be applied to new applicants to the program. 

 

Please note it is possible for a certification body to carry both OHSAS 18001 and ISO 45001 concurrently until March 12, 2021.  

 

When the certification body (CB) who is already accredited to ISO/IEC 17021 is ready to apply for a scope extension to add ISO 45001, the following process will apply;

 

First, a desk review must be conducted by a qualified SCC assessor. All updated management system documents must be submitted along with evidence that qualified auditors and other responsible personnel are trained to ISO 45001. 

 

Note: The following shall be submitted to SCC by the CB at least 2 months prior to step 2;

  • Transition Plan
  • A minimum of 5 auditor records 
  • A sample of training records for responsible personnel 
  • Completed SCC Criteria Matrix
  • Updated Management System policies and procedures
  • Certificate template
  • Any other applicable documents 

 

A Findings Report will be issued by the SCC assessor if there are any non-conformities or observations cited as a result of the desk review.  An Accreditation Report will also be completed by the SCC assessor upon successful closure of any issued findings. 

 

Second, an on-site assessment will be conducted to verify implementation of the new standard.  The on-site assessment should be conducted by September 30, 2020 to ensure the scope extension is complete by the March 12, 2021 deadline.   

 

An SCC witness audit to ISO 45001 must be conducted within 6 months of the on-site assessment, and may occur after the March 12, 2021 deadline. Furthermore, this witness audit shall be conducted on the certification body’s first audit to ISO 45001. 

 

Affected customers

Certification bodies, auditors, and assessors working in the area of occupational health and safety management systems (Note: this also includes certification bodies providing unaccredited certification to OHSAS 18001, as the standard is being withdrawn).

 

Background

ISO 45001 Occupational Health and Safety Management System was published in March 2018, as explained in SCC Accreditation Services bulletin 2018-05.  

 

New requirements

See SCC Accreditation Services Bulletin 2018-05 

 

Deadline

All transitions must be complete by March 12th, 2021. After that date, any OHSAS 18001 certificates issued under SCC accreditation will no longer be valid.

 

Questions?

Please contact Elias Rafoul, Vice President, Accreditation Services, at elias.rafoul@scc.ca or +1 613 238 3222 for more information.