New international safety standard closer to publication

A new international standard for occupational health and safety received a big vote of confidence, taking it another step closer to publication.

ISO 45001, Occupational health and safety, is currently being developed by ISO/PC 283 with the input of experts from over 70 countries.

The draft gained more than 75% approval last week, a positive step towards its implementation and goal of incident prevention.

Work-related accidents and illness heap enormous burdens on organisations, and society as a whole, with statistics from the International Labour Organization revealing over 2.3 million deaths and more than 300 million non-fatal accidents occur each year.*

The standard is designed to help organisations of all sizes and industries improve the health and safety of their employees through reducing risks and creating better working conditions.

It is designed to be effectively integrated into existing management systems and complement related health and wellbeing programs.

The next step in the process is to review the comments and prepare the draft for public voting later this year.

*Source: International Labour Organisation.