Occupational Health & Safety Management Systems
The international gold standard for workplace health and safety — and the formal replacement for OHSAS 18001.
ISO 45001:2018 is the international standard for Occupational Health and Safety Management Systems, replacing the withdrawn OHSAS 18001. It provides a framework for eliminating hazards, reducing OH&S risks, and demonstrating health and safety governance to clients and supply chains in construction, engineering, facilities management, and manufacturing. UK certification typically takes 10 to 18 weeks.
What is ISO 45001?
ISO 45001:2018 is the international standard for Occupational Health and Safety Management Systems. It replaced OHSAS 18001 as the recognised framework for managing workplace health and safety risks — reducing incidents, protecting employees and contractors, and demonstrating a systematic, proactive approach to safety governance.
If your organisation still holds OHSAS 18001 certification, it should already have transitioned to ISO 45001 — the OHSAS standard was officially withdrawn in March 2021. If you have not yet made that transition, Anacruses can help.
Who needs ISO 45001?
- ◆Construction, engineering, civil and rail businesses where H&S is assessed in pre-qualification questionnaires
- ◆Facilities management, utilities and infrastructure organisations
- ◆Manufacturing businesses with significant machinery, chemical or physical hazards
- ◆Any organisation tendering for contracts where safety performance is evaluated
- ◆Businesses that want to move beyond legal compliance to proactive safety leadership
- ◆Organisations that have experienced incidents or near-misses and want a structured improvement framework
What ISO 45001 requires
ISO 45001 goes beyond simply documenting health and safety procedures. It requires organisations to demonstrate a systematic approach to identifying hazards and assessing risks, engaging workers in safety governance, setting measurable H&S objectives, and driving continual improvement in safety performance. Leadership commitment is explicitly required — this standard cannot be delegated entirely to a safety officer.
How Anacruses helps
We begin with a gap analysis against the ISO 45001 requirements — reviewing your existing H&S arrangements, documentation, and incident records. We then build or enhance your Occupational Health and Safety Management System, covering hazard identification, risk assessment, legal register, objectives, competence records, emergency procedures, and audit programme.
Typical implementation timeline: 10–16 weeks. Transition from OHSAS 18001 to ISO 45001 is typically faster — 6–10 weeks.
Integrating ISO 45001 with your other standards
ISO 45001 shares the same Annex SL high-level structure as ISO 9001 and ISO 14001. If you hold either of those standards — or are implementing them alongside ISO 45001 — a significant proportion of your management system can be integrated. An Integrated Management System covering quality, environment and health and safety is increasingly common in construction, engineering and manufacturing.
Frequently asked questions
What replaced OHSAS 18001?
ISO 45001:2018. OHSAS 18001 was officially withdrawn in March 2021. Certificates still referencing OHSAS 18001 are no longer to a current standard.
How is ISO 45001 different from OHSAS 18001?
ISO 45001 adopts the Annex SL structure shared by ISO 9001 and 14001, making integration easier. It places greater emphasis on leadership commitment, worker participation, and proactive risk management.
Is ISO 45001 a legal requirement in the UK?
No. UK H&S law sets the legal baseline. ISO 45001 goes beyond legal compliance to provide a systematic framework for continual improvement in safety performance.
How long does ISO 45001 certification take?
10 to 16 weeks from scratch. Transition from OHSAS 18001 is typically 6 to 10 weeks as much of the underlying system already exists.
How much does ISO 45001 cost?
Total first-year cost is typically £5,000 to £14,000. Transition from OHSAS 18001 is typically less expensive as less new documentation is required.
Free resource
Download the free ISO 45001 Certification Checklist — all seven audit areas with required items listed.
Download free checklist →Ready to get ISO 45001 certified?
Book a free consultation. We will review your existing H&S arrangements and explain exactly what is needed — whether you are starting from scratch or transitioning from OHSAS 18001.
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