ISO 45001 audit checklist

An essential part of the ISO 45001 standard is to help an organisation conduct internal gap analysis audits at planned intervals. The goal of these audits is to identify gaps and provide information as to whether the Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) management system continually conforms to the requirements of the ISO 45001 standard.

Additionally, the audit also analyses if the OHS system aligns with the organisation’s policies and objectives. The ISO 45001 audit checklist rating system is rated from conformance to non-conformance so that a concise and consistent methodology for scoring each audit criteria is conveyed.

Moreover, there are provisions within the ISO 45001 audit checklist for the identification of opportunities or improvements, helping the organisation effectively demonstrate continual improvement processes. Once this checklist is completed, the auditor will analyse all the findings to create an audit report that subsequently allows monitoring and review of corrective actions. In this article, the ISO 45001 audit checklist is discussed in detail. By using ISO consultants Australia, you can benefit from ISO 45001 audit services in the shortest time.

ISO 45001 audit checklist methodology

The ISO 45001 audit checklist is utilised to assess an organisation’s compliance with the standard at any stage of the implementation process, including the initial planning to ongoing evaluation. The checklist is sectioned into all the segments that correspond to the clauses of the ISO 45001, where each standard includes a list of specific requirements that must be met in order for the organisation to be deemed compliant.

The internal audit results consist of critical inputs that will help to assess the effectiveness of the OHS management system. The audit findings will enable auditors to take any required corrective actions and communicate the modified audit processes to relevant parties. When ISO 45001 audits are being conducted, auditors should utilise risk-based thinking and focus on the concept of continual improvement as the main driver.

Components of the ISO 45001 audit checklist

During the first three segment, the audit asks the auditor to go through the organisation’s scope statement, normative references and important terminologies. The fourth segment asks auditors to analyse the context of the organisation. Auditors are asked if the organisation has determined the external and internal issues that are relevant to the strategic direction of the OHS management system.

Additionally, auditors were asked to determine if the needs and expectations of the interested parties relevant to the OHS management system have been identified. Similarly, the auditor determines if the boundaries and applicability of the OHS management system are relevant to the predefined scope system. For more information, we suggest reading the ISO 45001 requirement article.

ISO 45001 audit: Leadership and commitment

The fifth segment of the ISO 45001 audit checklist focuses on leadership and commitment. It asks auditors to identify how the top management is taking overall responsibility and accountability for the prevention of workplace- related injury and ill health. The auditors are asked to focus on the provision of safe and healthy workplace activities and how the objectives of the OHS policy are communicated across the organisation.

Moreover, the auditors need to ensure that the resources for the OHS activities are easily available across operations. Additionally, the second focus under the leadership and commitment segment is the commitment to continual improvement. The auditors have to determine if the relevant management rules have been outlined, and the intended outcomes of the OHS management system have been demarcated.

 The auditors have to determine if the top management leaders have laid out specific steps to protect workers from reprisals when reporting incidents, hazards, risks and opportunities.

ISO 45001 audit: Planning

The sixth segment of the ISO 45001 audit checklist focuses on planning. The auditors have to identify if the organisation has created a specific plan to take into account hazards, OHS risks, OHS opportunities and other legal requirements. The auditors also have to determine if the organisation maintains documented information on risks, opportunities and actions needed to mitigate their effect.

Documentation regarding past relevant incidents, internal or external issues, including emergencies and their causes also need to be assessed. Additionally, the auditors also need to understand how the organisation has taken into account the hierarchy of controls and what output from OHS management system were considered when planning to take action. We at ISO Council will help you to take the easiest way to get the ISO 45001 certification.

ISO 45001 audit: Support

The seventh segment of the ISO 45001 audit checklist focuses on support. This includes awareness, competence, resources communication and documentation. The auditors need to take into account the exact resources that were provided for the implementation of the OHS management system.

Auditors need to ensure that the workers are competent in their ability to identify hazards on the basis of appropriate education, training of experience. The communication channels to relay OHS information also need to be determined.

ISO 45001 audit: Operational planning and control

The eighth section of the ISO 45001 audit checklist focuses on operational planning and control. Here, the focus of the auditors is to ensure that the organisation has established, implemented and maintained processes for the reduction of OHS risks and elimination of hazards using the hierarchy of controls. Besides ISO 45001, implementing other types of ISO such as ISO 27001 can also add credibility to your business. For more information, we suggest you read the benefits of ISO 27001.

ISO 45001 audit: Performance evaluation

The ninth segment of the ISO 45001 audit checklist focuses on performance evaluation. The auditors assess how the organisation monitors, measures, analyses and evaluates its OHS system by focusing on adherence of compliance and provisions for internal audits.

ISO 45001 audit: Improvement

The last segment of the ISO 45001 audit checklist focuses on improvement by understanding how the organisation would react to incidents, non-conformity and corrective actions. We suggest that you read the ISO 9001 consultant article to learn more about the auditing of other types of ISO standards.