Help

BI’s Article search uses Boolean search capabilities. If you are not familiar with these principles, here are some quick tips.

To search specifically for more than one word, put the search term in quotation marks. For example, “workers compensation”. This will limit your search to that combination of words.

To search for a combination of terms, use quotations and the & symbol. For example, “hurricane” & “loss”.

Login Register Subscribe

Safety standard reflects global supply chains

Reprints
Safety standard reflects global supply chains

A building collapse in Bangladesh that killed more than 1,000 workers in the garment industry in April 2013 helped propel the development of an occupational health and safety management systems standard that aims to improve the safety of workplaces across the globe, experts say.

The Savar, Bangladesh, building collapse isn’t the only example of the dangers of lax standards, but the tragedy demonstrated the workplace safety risks inherent in global supply chains and heightened efforts to develop the ISO 45001 standard — the first global standard for occupational health and safety management systems.

“That particular incident drove and pushed people to move faster in getting this standard developed,” said Derek Eversdyke, director of facility safety products at safety signs and labels designer and manufacturer Clarion Safety Systems L.L.C. in Milford, Pennsylvania.

The International Organization for Standardization developed the standard over a 4½-year period, and it was approved in January by about 93% of the ISO membership — beyond the two-thirds majority needed for publication — and is scheduled for publication on March 12.

“It is clear to the world that this is going to be a big game-changer,” said Mr. Eversdyke, a member of the U.S. technical advisory group on ISO 45001.

A key component was getting buy-in for the standard from more than 60 countries as global supply chains extend beyond the United States and Europe, experts say.

“It’s hard to get that level of consensus given the different needs that we all have from our different countries,” said Victor Toy, chair of the U.S. technical advisory group on ISO 45001 administered by the American Society of Safety Engineers and a San Francisco-based principal with consultancy Insyst OH&S. “That’s a great signal.”

The standard will provide a framework for occupational health and safety goals, facilitating the identification of workplace safety risks and solutions and metrics for measuring the success of safety initiatives to reduce the nearly 2.8 million workplace fatalities across the globe, according to the ISO.

“It’s forcing you to look at all the risks you have as a company, find out what those opportunities are, and then decide as a team which of those opportunities you’re going to include in your plan for the year,” said Randy Parnow, corporate safety manager at industrial supply company Fastenal Co. in Winona, Minnesota.

The ISO 45001 standard is designed to build on and integrate with previous standards such as ISO 14001, which governs environmental management, and ISO 9001, which governs quality management, among other standards.

“What I like about (the standard) is that it can work with the other programs,” Mr. Parnow said. “I like that you can use it to bring the environment and safety together in one plan. I like that it ensures that you have employee involvement, because a lot of times companies will try to set up a safety program and without employees involved, if they have no ownership, they don’t care. When they’re involved in the process, then they care.”

“This standard is putting language in place that really shows what that top senior management commitment to safety looks like,” said Larry Poague, senior loss control consultant with Lockton Cos. L.L.C. in Kansas City, Missouri.

The ISO 45001 standard also encourages a more proactive approach to risk identification, assessment and mitigation, experts say.

“The most obvious risks are those that people identify from lagging indicators such as injuries and illnesses,” Mr. Toy said. “The challenge for that is that we’re looking backwards at what has happened rather than focusing on true risks. This really is a risk management standard.” “I think the difference is being proactive versus being reactive,” Mr. Eversdyke said.

The United States also has a standard called ANSI Z10 for occupational health and safety management systems, while OHSAS 18001 was the de facto international standard, Mr. Toy said.

“Since this is a system that is now a global one, rather than having to adopt individual country standards on how you manage occupational health and safety, it’s really going to make it easier for organizations to do business across country lines, whether or not you have operations or you have suppliers in other countries that you do business with,” Mr. Toy said.

“At least from the safety community, we’re seeing a positive push to bring labor standards up and outside of our country and into the global supply chain,” Mr. Poague said.

Many organizations currently using the 18001 standard have pledged to certify to the ISO 45001 within the three-year transition period, Mr. Toy said, adding that he thinks the potential for adoption of 45001, given its global nature, could be even wider than 18001.

“I think you’re going to see a big migration from 18001 to the 45001 because it’s just a better system,” said Edwin Foulke, an Atlanta-based partner at Fisher & Phillips L.L.P., a former OSHA assistant secretary of labor and a member of ASSE’s technical advisory group.

“Companies that get into this are going to significantly improve their safety programs, and that’s going to translate into less workers comp costs and the total costs associated with injured employees,” Mr. Foulke said.

 

 

Read Next

  • OSHA guidelines help smaller firms create effective safety programs

    While the soon-to-be-published ISO 45001 safety standard aims to help large and multinational employers implement workplace safety systems, the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s safety and health program guidelines help small to midsize employers implement effective programs.