ISO 45001: High Level Structure (HLS)

ISO 45001, which replaced OHSAS 18001, is the international standard for occupational health and safety management systems. The standard contains requirements for a management system for healthy and safe working in an organization. The ISO standards for management systems use High Level Structure (HLS). The HLS is a ‘broad outline structure’ that is the same for all standards. High Level Structure includes the following:

  • Context analysis.
  • Establishing the requirements of interested parties.
  • Influence of internal and external changes on the organization.
  • Integration with other business processes.
  • Risks and opportunities.
  • Control of outsourced processes.
  • Documented information. 

For whom?

ISO 45001 is suitable for all organizations who want to demonstrate that they meet the legal obligations to ensure safety and health of their employees. Find out more about ISO 45001 and the benefits.

When is ISO 45001 required?

Setting up and implementing a safety and health quality management system in accordance with the ISO 45001 standard is of added value for almost every organisation. An ISO 45001 management system enables an organisation to take care of the management of risks, the prevention and/or limitation of the seriousness of accidents, the prevention/limitation of absenteeism and (occupational) illnesses and the continuous improvement of results/performance when it comes to health and safety at work. Working according to the standard ISO 45001 ensures that responsibilities and authorities are clear to everyone within an organisation, which ensures optimal transparency.

Continuous improvement principles

As an independent certification body, Kiwa tests whether your current management system for safety and health at work meets the requirements set in the ISO 45001 standard. The standard is based on the same continuous improvement principles as ISO 9001, ISO 14001 and other ISO certification schemes. This makes it possible to combine audits, which results in a reduction in audit time and costs. We can apply this one-stop shop formula (integrated audits) in various industries.