ISO 45002:2023

Overview

ISO 45002:2023 - Occupational health and safety management systems - General guidelines for the implementation of ISO 45001:2018 - provides practical guidance for establishing, implementing, maintaining and continually improving an OH&S management system in line with ISO 45001:2018. It expands on what organizations need to do (as set out in ISO 45001) by offering guidance, examples and real-life cases without creating new requirements or formally interpreting ISO 45001. The document follows the Plan-Do-Check-Act (PDCA) model to achieve continual improvement in workplace safety and health.

Key topics and technical requirements

ISO 45002:2023 covers guidance across the full OH&S management system lifecycle, including:

• Context of the organization: understanding internal and external factors, interested parties, and defining system scope.
• Leadership and participation: top-management commitment, OH&S policy, roles, responsibilities and worker consultation.
• Planning: hazard identification, risk and opportunity assessment, legal and other requirements, and OH&S objectives.
• Support: resources, competence, awareness, internal/external communication, and documented information.
• Operation: operational controls, eliminating hazards, reducing OH&S risks, management of change, procurement and emergency preparedness.
• Performance evaluation: monitoring, measurement, compliance evaluation, internal audits and management review.
• Improvement: incident investigation, corrective action and continual improvement activities.

Important guidance notes in the standard:

• The term “should” indicates recommended practice and does not add new requirements to ISO 45001.
• Real-life case examples illustrate possible implementation approaches but do not prescribe a single method.

Applications

ISO 45002:2023 is designed to help organizations of any size or sector that are implementing or maintaining an OH&S management system aligned with ISO 45001. Typical users include:

• Safety managers and occupational health professionals
• Top management and compliance teams
• OH&S consultants and system implementers
• Internal auditors and certification bodies (as guidance)

Practical applications include developing hazard identification processes, planning corrective actions, improving worker participation, setting measurable OH&S objectives, and preparing for audits and management review.

Related standards

• ISO 45001:2018 - the normative standard for OH&S management systems that ISO 45002:2023 guides in practice.

Keywords: ISO 45002:2023, ISO 45001 implementation, occupational health and safety management systems, OH&S guidance, hazard identification, risk assessment, workplace safety, continual improvement.