Published 7 Sep 2023
In this article
- When to Use an ISO 45001 Audit Checklist?
- Why Use a Checklist for Conducting ISO 45001 Audits
- What to Include in an ISO 45001 Audit Checklist
- Creating One For Your Organization
- How to Prepare for ISO 45001:2018 Certification
- ISO 45001 Audit Report Sample
- FAQs About ISO 45001
- Effectively Audit Your ISO 45001:2018 Compliance with an Auditing Tool
- Featured ISO 45001 Checklists
When to Use an ISO 45001 Audit Checklist?
A general ISO 45001 audit checklist template is a tool used to guide an organization when assessing its OH&S management system and determining how aligned it is with the ISO 45001 standard. Also, this checklist can be used by companies when preparing for ISO certifications by covering relevant ISO 45001 audit questions based on its key clauses.
Why Use a Checklist for Conducting ISO 45001 Audits
Using a checklist for conducting ISO 45001 audits can be extremely beneficial for a number of reasons, including the following:
- Ensures comprehensive coverage – This checklist covers all the key ISO 45001 requirements of the standard, which ensures that no important aspect is missed during the audit, making it comprehensive and accurate.
- Increases efficiency – A pre-defined list of questions and requirements can help the auditor to move through the audit process logically, more quickly, and with greater ease. This can help to save time and resources, allowing the auditor to focus on areas of greater concern or interest.
- Improves communication – A checklist also helps keep all stakeholders involved in the audit process. By having a clear understanding of what is being audited and how the process works, communication between the auditor and the organization can be improved, leading to more effective collaboration.
What to Include in an ISO 45001 Audit Checklist
The checklist covers the 7 clauses of the ISO 45001 standard, grouping them into these sections:
- Context of the organization
- Leadership
- Planning
- Support
- Operation
- Performance evaluation
- Improvement
To further guide those who will use the checklist on how these sections must be audited, here are the key areas that should be present:
- Leadership and worker participation – ensuring that top management is committed to providing a safe and healthy workplace and that workers are involved in the development, implementation, and continual improvement of the system
- Hazard identification, risk assessment, and control – identifying hazards, assessing risks, and implementing controls to eliminate or minimize risks
- Objectives, targets, and performance indicators – setting measurable objectives and targets for the OH&S management system, as well as monitoring and measuring performance against those objectives and targets
- Communication, participation, and consultation – ensuring that there are effective channels of communication for workers to report health and safety concerns and that they are consulted on matters related to OH&S
- Performance evaluation – conducting internal audits of the OH&S management system and reviewing performance data to identify opportunities for improvement
Creating One For Your Organization
Creating an ISO 45001 audit checklist involves several steps to ensure that all necessary areas are covered. Here are some key steps you can follow:
- Decide which parts of the organization and which processes will be audited. This will help you to determine the specific areas that need to be included in the checklist.
- Review the ISO 45001 standard and identify the requirements that are relevant to the scope of the audit. These should form the basis of your checklist.
- Organize the checklist by grouping requirements into categories such as leadership and worker participation, hazard identification and control, legal and other requirements, and so on.
- For each requirement, include specific and easy-to-understand questions to help you assess whether the organization is meeting the requirement.
- Prioritize the checklist items based on their importance to the organization’s OH&S management system.
- Test the checklist by conducting a trial audit to help you identify any gaps in the checklist and refine it before using it formally.
How to Prepare for ISO 45001:2018 Certification
Below are steps to get started in achieving certification for ISO 45001:2018:
- Obtain a copy of ISO 45001:2018.
- Identify gaps in the existing OH&S Management System by conducting a gap analysis or readiness test to meet ISO 45001:2018 requirements using an ISO 45001 audit checklist.
- Develop an implementation plan using the Plan-Do-Check-Act (PDCA) cycle.
- Define your organization’s competency and training requirements for ISO 45001:2018.
- Ensure competence needs are met and all parties involved are kept in the loop.
ISO 45001 Audit Report Sample
Now that you know the most important components of an effective ISO 45001 audit checklist and how to create one for your organization, you must also know what it looks like as a completed report. Below is an example of a filled-out ISO 45001:2018 audit checklist.
FAQs About ISO 45001
ISO 45001 is valuable for organizations of all sizes and industries because the standard aims to help in developing a safe working environment. Below are some benefits of certifying for ISO 45001:
- Reduces workplace injury and illness
- Boosts productivity and lowers insurance costs
- Gives you a competitive advantage as you publicly demonstrate your commitment to safety and continuous improvement
Conducting an internal ISO 45001 audit can be summarized into 5 steps:
- Assign an internal auditor.
- Develop a consistent internal audit program.
- Use an ISO 45001 audit checklist.
- Assess findings and generate a comprehensive report.
- Create and implement corrective actions.
Effectively Audit Your ISO 45001:2018 Compliance with an Auditing Tool
Why use SafetyCulture?
Paper-based audits can be burdensome and time-consuming. Time spent on documentation and manual filing of records can be better spent addressing the actual hazards found during audits.
SafetyCulture, a powerful operations platform and mobile auditing app, can help organizations comply with regulatory requirements and eliminate workplace dependence on paper checklists. SafetyCulture lets you do the following and more:
- Create and download mobile-ready ISO checklists to identify process gaps and issues. Assign corrective actions to prepare for certification.
- Empower teams to conduct efficient monitoring procedures and analysis using a smartphone or tablet.
- Save hours in report writing with a mobile app that generates comprehensive reports as you finish an audit.
- Save all reports in various formats, such as CSV, PDF, XLS, and Word, in the app’s secure cloud and automatically share them with members of your organization.
- Use for free with small teams. Unlimited reports and storage are available for premium accounts.
Here is a collection of our carefully prepared workplace safety checklists you can browse and use as part of achieving ISO 45001 certification and ongoing compliance.
Featured ISO 45001 Checklists
ISO 45001 Safety Plan Template
An ISO 45001 Safety Plan Template can be used by organizations to create plans to monitor, measure, analyze, and evaluate safety hazards. To achieve ISO 45001 certification, an organization must plan, document, and assess its performance against stated safety objectives. This template is designed to capture the following information:
- Safety Hazard: description of the safety hazard and stated objective
- Risk Level: the level of risk severity this hazard poses
- Monitoring: type of monitoring activity/ planned inspection process
- Analysis: key insights and trends to examine from monitoring records
- Evaluation: what to do in order to improve safety performance
- Supporting Photos: ability to attach supporting photos to this template
ISO 45001 PDCA Template - Planning
This template is based on the PDCA cycle. Use this template to establish OH&S objectives by identifying hazards and determining legal and other requirements. Create implementation plans to achieve continuous improvement in your OH&S management system.
ISO 45001 - Hazard Identification Checklist
Use this hazard identification checklist to help assess potential risks (e.g., noise, manual handling, excavation, etc.) at the worksite. Capture photo evidence of hazards found and assign urgent tasks to immediately address more pressing issues even while a site check is ongoing. Complete the assessment by including some comments and providing the overall rating. Analyze data collected to create better safety plans and strategies for your organization.
ISO 45001 - Incident Report Form
This incident report template can be used to help conduct a root cause analysis following an incident or near miss at a workplace. Record facts surrounding the event and capture relevant environmental, equipment, system, and people factors that may have led to the incident. Reports are easy to generate anytime and anywhere using the SafetyCulture mobile app.
ISO 45001 - Job Hazard Analysis Template
This OSHA Job Hazard Analysis Template converted using SafetyCulture can be used as a safety planning guide or log. List the tasks, identify the hazards associated with them, and then describe the possible consequences if those hazards are not properly addressed. Next, record the preventive measures and controls to reduce, control, or eliminate the hazards. Provide comments on the next steps or action plans. All logs are secured in SafetyCulture’s cloud storage and can be accessed for future reference.
