Revision ISO 45001: Occupational Health & Safety Management System

ISO 45001 is the leading international standard providing a structured, risk-based, and leadership-driven framework for managing occupational health & safety, and focused on continual improvement and worker protection.

ISO 45001 is currently undergoing its first revision process since its initial launch in 2018. The revision process started mid-2024.

The DIS- stage (Draft International Standard) was reached mid-June 2026 when the document was released and made available for a 12 weeks ballot and comment period among national member bodies. Exact date for publication of the standard is not communicated, but is likely to happen second half of 2027.

Draft revised ISO 45001 – What changes can be expected?

The revision process is based on recommendations from a Task Group which was established to identify potential changes for the revision. A key aim for the revision is to maintain ISO 45001 as a forward-looking requirements specification that represents evolving good practice, and which addresses the emerging OH&S issues and challenges faced by organizations.

The overall extent of changes can be considered moderate. However, they are more extensive compared with the new editions for ISO 14001 and ISO 9001. 

Among the main changes are:

• Consistent alignment of text with the latest Harmonized Structure (HS) text. This also means that the text has been reorganized for several HS clauses, sometimes also without changing the overall requirements.
• Increased focus on “promotion of work-related well-being” throughout document (and not just prevention of harm). This is added in several clauses such as 1, 3.16, 3.20 (new definition), 5.1, 5.2 f), 5.4, 6.1.2.3, 8.1.1, and indicates a switch to a more proactive approach to fulfill work-related well-being of workers.
• Explicit focus to take into account “diversity of workers” (included in several clauses such as 4.2, 7.4, 8.1.2, 8.2).
• Integration of the Climate Change amendments from 2024 (in clause 4.1.and 4.2). In addition:
  • 3 new Notes have been added for clause 4.1, including listing of examples of relevant internal and external issues that can be relevant for OH&S management.
  • In clause 4.2 a requirement is added to ensure that diversity of workers is taken into account when determining needs and expectations.
• Expanded list of factors to take into account for hazard identification (clause 6.1.2.1) (e.g. new and changing technologies, digital platform-based activities, remote workers, psychosocial hazards, occupational health hazards and climate change impacts).
• In clause 6.1.2.2 “Assessment of OH&S risks” it is explicitly required to keep documentation also from the result of assessment, in addition to documentation of methodologies and criteria for the assessment.
• In clause 6.1.2.3 “Assessment of OH&S opportunities”: Expanded list of areas to include when assessing improvement opportunities.
• Added new clause 6.3 “Planning of changes” to adopt to Harmonized Structure. However, content wise this is not a major change for ISO 45001, since the major part for “Management of change” is already covered in 8.1.3.
• In clause 7.3 “Awareness” the list of factors for worker awareness is extended.
• Clause 8.1 “Operational planning and control” has some substantial changes:
  • Expanded requirements in clause 8.1.1 “General” and 8.1.2 “Eliminating hazards and reducing OH&S risks”.
  • Added new clause 8.1.3 “Occupational health” which sets requirements to establish processes to protect the health of workers.
  • Added new clause 8.1.4 “Return to work following injury and ill health” which requires to establish processes to ensure controlled follow-up of persons returning to work.
  • A new clause 8.1.6 “Externally provided processes, products, and services” replaces 8.1.4 “Procurement” in 2018-edition. Some new requirements are added and some parts removed from 2018-edition.
• The new 10.1 "Continual improvement" is a consolidation of 10.1 "General" and 10.3 “Continual improvement from 2018-edition. Text is reduced compared with 2018-edition, but the intent remains unchanged

In addition, the following should be noted:

• Annex A is substantially extended with the intention to promote clear and consistent interpretation of the requirements contained in the document.
• Related to clause 3 “Definitions”:
  
  • 3 new definitions are added: 3.20 “work-related well-being”, 3.21 “disability” and 3.8 “external provider” (which replaces the term “outsourcing” in 2018-edition).
  • 3.23 “occupational health and safety risk” is substantially revised from 2018-edition.
  • 3.20 “risk” from 2028-edition has been removed

Note that this is not an exhaustive list of all changes. Also be aware that there will likely be some changes when the document reaches the FDIS stage (Final Draft).

Transition rules and timeline

The Global ACI (Accreditation Cooperation Incorporated) will likely define the requirements for the transition to ISO 45001:2027. These are not yet available. 
It could possibly be expected that the transition will become 3 years, in line with what is decided for ISO 14001 and ISO 9001.

Preparing for implementation

We recommend you start preparing for the transition as early as possible and plan properly to incorporate needed changes into your management system.
Recommended steps for the transition:

• Get to know the changes of the revised standard as soon as possible.
• Ensure that relevant personnel in your organization are trained and understand the changes and clarifications.
• Identify gaps which need to be addressed to meet the new requirements and other clarifications and establish an implementation plan.
• Implement actions and update your management system to meet the new requirements.

How we can support

Once you start preparing to transition to the new version of ISO 45001, DNV can support your journey.

We will be able to support you with:

• Webinars to get an overview of the main changes and the transition process.
• Training where you learn more about the revisions and changes and how to tackle key areas to continually improve and build a high performing management system.
• Transition audit to move your certification in line with the new version of the standard.

We can support you every step of the way.