ISO 45001 scope: Determining the Scope of the OHSMS

The ISO 45001 standard provides a framework for preventing work-related ill-health, injury or death. The intention of this standard is to enhance the health and safety of the workplace for workers and other individuals who are regularly interacting with the organisation.

To achieve this aim of enhanced workplace safety, the standard guides organisations to implement an Occupational Health and Safety Management System (OHSMS). However, one of the key components in implementing a robust OHSMS is its scope statement, as it allows both organisation members and auditors to understand the boundaries and limitations of the ISO 45001 certification OHSMS. In this article, we will talk about ISO 45001 scope.

ISO 45001 scope

The scope statement of ISO 45001 provides the requirements for an effective OHSMS that will assist the organisation in fostering a healthy and safe environment. It’s a part of the ISO 45001 audit checklist. For this purpose, organisations need to create an Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) policy that meets the best practises and legal requirements as well as a scope that outlines the boundaries of their OHSMS. Essentially, the scope of ISO 45001 should include:

• Creation of an OHS policy that highlights the objectives of the organisation while taking into account its internal and external context.
• Establishing, implementing and maintaining the OHSMS.
• Steps for the continual improvement of the OHS performance.
• Steps taken to ensure conformity to OHS policy.
• Demonstrating compliance to ISO 45001

Here, it is important to mention that the standard does not provide specific criteria for OHS performance, rather allows for the homogeneous integration of other similar aspects of health and safety.

Some common aspects include non-occupational health, wellness and well-being. Therefore, the scope need not include specific ideas of product safety, environmental protection, public safety and quality. Instead, the scope should encompass the entirety of the OHSMS.

Another important point to note is that there is no compulsion to use ISO 45001 as a whole or in parts. However, if you are making any claims of conformity with the standard, it will only be deemed acceptable if it is appropriately reflected in your documentation and scope.

Determining the scope of the OHSMS

To help organisations determine the scope of their OHSMS, the ISO 45001 standard has dedicated two clauses delineating what needs to be done. These two clauses include:

ISO 45001 Clause 4.1:

Clause 4.1 requires companies to understand how their internal and external issues can positively or negatively impact the health and safety of their organisation. Here, the focus is specifically on health and safety performance. In this segment, business owners must introspect all internal issues such as organisational culture and structure as well as all external issues including market competition, cultural factors, social factors, political factors, legal obligations and financial fluctuations that are significant to its performance. For more information read the ISO 45001 requirements article.  

ISO 45001 Clause 4.2:

Clause 4.2 requires organisations to identify all relevant parties, going out to outline their needs as well as expectations. Once the company has successfully determined and assessed its internal and external issues, the next step is to identify the needs and expectations of all relevant interested parties. This includes the management, the workforce and its stakeholders.

Determining the needs and expectations of the interested parties is helpful in defining the boundaries and applicability of the OHSMS. This is because it is not mandatory to have the OHSMS cover the entire organisation. Certain organisations choose to only include specific identified functions under the OHSMS.

Although, this strategic decision depends solely on the individual circumstances of the organisation, however including the entire organisation under the OHSMS has always created more potent benefits. Nevertheless, the scope must include specific details about the boundaries of the OHSMS, highlighting the identified functions or sections of the organisation that are under the OHSMS.

Hence, if the organisation makes a claim that it is conforming to the recommendations of ISO 45001, then it must make its scope available to all interested parties, so that all interested parties can understand the applicability and limitations of OHSMS.

Benefits of ISO 45001 scope

Ideally, the scope should include everything that is under the control or influence of the organisation that has the ability to impact OHS performance. In fact, the credibility of the organisation’s OHSMS depends largely upon the extent of its defined boundaries. The ISO grants liberty to organisations in creating their OHS policies, but urges them not to exclude any services, products or activities that could potentially impact their OHS performance, otherwise they will be subjected to legal ramifications.

An inappropriate, exclusive or narrow scope could undermine the credibility of an organisation’s OHSMS, and on the other hand, a well-defined, comprehensive and inclusive scope could boost the credibility of an organisation’s OHSMS.

It is important to remember that the scope is merely a factual statement of the operations or business processes, and therefore, once the scope is defined, the organisation is limited to what the scope covers. Hence, appropriate amount of time should be spent in the pre-planning stages, so that the scope has adequate applicability. 

Conclusion

Clause 4.1 and clause 4.2 outlines the requirements for creating the scope statement for a robust OHSMS. Considering the importance of ISO 45001 scope determination, we suggest to get help from professional experts and use an experienced ISO consultant.