Mark Hammar Updated 2018-11-13 according to ISO 45001
“Why should we spend money on ISO 45001?”
“Spending money on an Occupational Health & Safety (OH&S) management system is unnecessary, because we already follow the health & safety laws.”
“We have other things to worry about than implementing a management system for health & safety.”
If you are hearing these statements, then you are probably in the position of convincing your senior management to implement an Occupational Health & Safety management system.
If you are in the process of doing this, you might be finding that the senior managers are having trouble seeing past the cost of implementing the system. It can be difficult to convince senior managers to support an OH&S management system, but if you don’t get that support it will be more challenging to maintain the system once it is in place. Without the support of senior management, it will be difficult to show the continual improvement that is required to maintain your certification.
This is particularly important with management review of key performance indicators for the OH&S management system. To find out more about these, see How to establish and evaluate key performance indicators for OHSAS 18001.
What are the benefits of having an OH&S management system?
When you need to convince management, it is often helpful to talk in dollars and cents, but this can be difficult when justifying the implementation of a management system. So, you will instead need to focus on the benefits that a management system can deliver, and why they apply to your company. Here are a few to think about:
Help maintain compliance with legal requirements. It goes without saying that you will meet all of the legal requirements that you know about for occupational health & safety, but are you sure that you have identified everything? One of the most important benefits that can be derived from implementing an OH&S management system according to the ISO 45001 requirements is to provide you with a framework for identifying, monitoring, and complying with all the varied legal, regulatory, and contractual requirements that apply to your company processes. The system is there to aid in maintaining your compliance, which can not only help prevent employee injury, but also prevent costly fines for non-compliance.
Improve your company credibility and image. While your contracts may not include a requirement for an OH&S management system, many customers are relieved to know that a supplier has good control over the health & safety of their workplace. For a customer, this can mean that they have a much lower risk of delays in receiving hardware due to accidents and injuries, which can stop production as much as they hurt workers. In fact, in some jurisdictions legal fines can be reduced if the company is found to have a functioning OH&S management system, because this shows concern for prevention of injuries and legal non-compliance.
Reduce employee turnover. If you are known as an employer who cares about safe working environments, your employees will want to stay. And, they will not only benefit from this environment of safety, but also help to improve the safety of the working environment. Because well-trained employees are your greatest asset, this can be a great cost savings. After all, it is less expensive to retain employees than it is to hire and train new employees.
Process improvement. Continual improvement is an integral part of ISO 45001, and this can be used to help your organization make improvements and enhancements in your organizational processes. By involving your people in process improvements, you can find savings not only in health & safety, but also in the time and resources needed to do the work.
Improving the health & safety of workers
Of course, the main reason you want to implement an OH&S management system using the ISO 45001 requirements is to improve the safety and health of your employees by identifying and reducing the risks in your processes that can lead to injury. Beyond this simple idea, it is good to highlight that there are other benefits, as outlined above, that can not only benefit your workers, but also improve the bottom line of your company by focusing on long-term advantages.
To help you make your case for implementing ISO 45001, why not check out this free Project plan for ISO 45001 implementation.
