OHSAS 18001 Becoming an ISO Standard?

OHSAS 18001 Becoming an ISO Standard

It keeps being reported that OHSAS 18001 is being turned into an ISO Standard, but we’ve yet to see anything materialise. The International Standards Organisation has been back-and-forth trying to create ISO 45001 from OHSAS 18001, but as yet, nothing is set in stone. So what’s gone on so far?

According to an update on the International Standardization Organisation’s website, the publication of ISO 45001, the new international audit Standard, expected to replace OHSAS 18001 Standard (occupational health and safety), has been extended again. The final publication is set to be released in December 2017, which is approximately 18 months later than the original planned release date of June 2016!

The Standard was originally delayed earlier in 2016 due to a huge number of comments received during a public consultation of the Standard. Over 3,000 comments were made regarding making changes to definitions of key concepts, and other minor changes which have set back the release date.

The original timetable reported the draft text would be finalised by October 2016, but this target has clearly been missed. Now there are reports that additional meetings are scheduled on 6^th and 10^th February 2017 in Austria. It’s looking likely that the Standard may not be published until October 2017 at the earliest. With the growing possibility is that it may not be released until early 2018.