ISO 50001:2018 has been published
The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) has recently published ISO 50001:2018, the revised standard for energy management. ISO 50001:2018 has been revised to follow ISO’s common framework and High Level Structure (HLS) used for management system standards. This change will make it easier to integrate with other management system certifications, such as ISO 9001 and ISO 14001. Those that are already certified to the 2011 version of the standard will have 3 years to transition to the 2018 version.
What is the difference between the 2011 and 2018 standards?
ISO 50001:2018 is based on Annex SL – the new ISO high level structure (HLS) that brings a common framework to all management systems, i.e. it applies a common language across all standards.
This helps to keep consistency, supports alignment of different management system standards, e.g. ISO9001, ISO14001, etc. With the new standard in place, organisations will find it easier to incorporate their energy management system into core business processes and get more involvement from top management.
Other changes include:-
- New clause for understanding the organization and its context (4.1)
- New clause for systematic determination of the needs and expectations of interested parties (4.2)
- Strengthened emphasis on leadership and top management commitment
- Addition of Risk and opportunity management
- Addition of Competence (7.2)
- Extended requirements related to communications (7.4)
- Additions to Operational planning and control (8.1)
- Monitoring, measurement, analysis and evaluation of energy performance and the EnMS (9.1)
- Additions to Management review (9.3)
How your company can benefit from adopting ISO 50001
If energy use is one of your organisations significant environmental aspects, then an Energy management system (EnMS) may provide additional benefit and enhanced focus on energy management.
Application of ISO50001 contributes to more efficient use of available energy sources, to enhanced competitiveness and to reducing greenhouse gas emissions and other related environmental impacts. ISO50001 is applicable irrespective of the types of energy used, e.g. electricity, gas, diesel, petrol etc…
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What business benefits are there in implementing ISO45001
Over 6000* people die each day from work-related accidents or diseases – that’s over 2.3 million* every year.
Additionally, there are some 340 million* occupational accidents, many of these resulting in extended absences from work.
- Diseases related to work cause the most deaths among workers. Hazardous substances alone are estimated to cause 651,279 deaths a year.
- The construction industry has a disproportionately high rate of recorded accidents.
- Younger and older workers are particularly vulnerable. The ageing population in developed countries means that an increasing number of older persons are working and need special consideration.
* source: International Labour Organisation
With effective and robust processes in place, many organisations can mitigate and / or prevent such incidents.
ISO 45001:2018 sets the framework for establishing, implementing, and maintaining an occupational health and safety (OH&S) management system, managing OH&S risks and opportunities. With ISO45001 being based on the high-level structure for all management systems, an organisation can combine systems with other standards e.g. ISO9001 and ISO14001.
ISO45001 is designed to prevent work-related injury and ill-health and to provide safe and healthy workplaces. Ultimately, its aim is to promote and protect the physical and mental health of workers, a responsibility held by any organisation.
Being an international standard, ISO45001 crosses all boundaries; geographic, political, economic, commercial and social. So, whether large or small, trading locally, nationally or internationally, ISO45001 sets the benchmark.
Good safety and health management systems and cultures help organisation to:
- Prevent injury, illness and death
- Improve reputation, resilience and results
Benefits can include:
- Improve ability to respond to regulatory compliance issues
- Improve identification of hazards and risks
- Reduce the overall costs of incidents
- Reduce downtime and the costs of disruption to operations
- Reducing the cost of insurance premiums
- Reducing absenteeism and employee turnover rates
Unfortunately, you can’t acquire a health and safety culture at the flick of a switch. A positive safety culture is about having positive values, attitudes, competencies and behaviour from employees and leaders from all levels. It takes commitment and dedication across the entire workforce.
What is a health and safety culture? And how do you ‘get’ one?
The new ISO 45001:2018 now includes the requirement ‘Leadership and Commitment’ (5.1), which describes the aims to develop, lead and promote a Health and Safety culture that involves all employees on the following:
- Regular communications concerning health and safety matters – Toolbox talks, intranet and meetings
- Protecting your workers – do you provide PPE (Personal Protective Equipment) i.e. high visibility jacket
- Provide a health and safety induction – make employees aware of your company health and safety controls i.e. first aider and fire drills
- Consider support for mental health issues with healthcare specialists
- Ensure relevant controls are in place i.e. lone worker and DSE Procedures
- Establish a health and safety steering group / committee to take the lead and demonstrate commitment.
Interested in how ISO 45001 can help you further with your workplace health and safety? We have a free webinar available to watch: An Introduction to ISO 45001.
What is a Risk Assessment?
A Hazard Identification and Risk Assessment (HIRA) is simply a careful examination of what, in your line of work, could cause harm to people so that you may weigh up whether you have taken enough precautions or need to do more to prevent harm.
The aim is to ensure that no one gets hurt or becomes ill, as accidents and sickness can ruin lives and affects your business if output is lost, machinery is damaged, insurance costs increase or result in going to court.
You are legally required to assess the risks present in your workplace.
Some assessments of the relationship between hazard and risk are very precise, based on numerical assignments of values which are calculated from detailed considerations of engineering and other disciplines, other risk assessments may be more task orientated such as Display Screen Equipment (DSE) risk assessments.
The important things you need to decide are whether a hazard is significant and whether you have it covered by satisfactory precautions to ensure the risk is minimised. This needs to be checked when you assess the risks. For example, electricity can kill but the risk of it doing so in an office setting is unlikely, provided that ‘live’ components are insulated and metal casings properly earthed.
So how should you assess the risks in your workplace? HSE guidance promoted the following:
5 Step Approach to Hazard Identification and Risk Assessment:
Step 1: Look for Hazards
Walk around your workplace and look for what could reasonably be expected to cause harm, not the trivial things but rather concentrate on significant hazards. Also ask your employees what they think and if they’ve noticed anything that you may not find immediately obvious.
Step 2: Decide who might be harmed, and how
This can include young workers, trainees, non-English speakers, cleaners, visitors, contractors, maintenance workers, members of the public or people you share your workplace with.
Step 3: Evaluate the risks and decide if current precautions are adequate or need improvement
When considering whether current precautions are adequate also consider if the remaining risk is tolerable or intolerable. If it’s intolerable than you need to re-evaluate the precautions and improve until the remaining risk is minimised.
Ask yourself, have you done everything required by law? But don’t stop there – your real aim is to minimise risk and to do so you may need to add further precautions.
Step 4: Record your findings
If you have more than five employees you must record the ‘Significant findings’ of your assessment, this means writing down the significant hazards and conclusions.
An example of this may be: ‘Electrical installations: insulation and earthing regularly checked and working as intended.
Your employees must also be informed of these findings.
Step 5: Review your assessment and revise it if necessary
Your business will inevitably evolve and as new equipment and procedures are introduced so too will new risks. When a significant change has been made, update the Risk Assessment as necessary. Do not do this for every trivial change.
It’s recommended that an annual Risk Assessment is conducted as a minimum to ensure that your business is as up-to-date as possible.
If you are looking for any assistance with Hazard Identification and Risk Assessments within your organisation, we may be able to help. Contact us on: enquiries@blackmoresuk.com
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