ISO 45001 terms and definitions
ISO 45001 uses specific terminology that you need to understand to apply the standard properly. You can obtain the official text, including definitions, from NEN . This glossary explains the main terms, both the formal definitions and what they mean in practice.
Many terms come from the High Level Structure and are identical to those in ISO 9001 and ISO 14001. This makes it easier to combine systems.
A
Audit
A systematic, independent and documented process to determine whether requirements are met. ISO 45001 recognises internal audits (carried out by your own organisation) and external audits (carried out by the certification body).
Read more about the audit process.
C
Certification body (CI)
An independent organisation that assesses whether your health and safety management system meets ISO 45001 and issues the certificate. In the Netherlands these include DNV, LRQA, BSI, TÜV, Kiwa and Bureau Veritas.
The certification body must itself be accredited by the Raad voor Accreditatie (RvA, Dutch Accreditation Council).
Competence
The ability to apply knowledge and skills to achieve the intended results. ISO 45001 requires you to determine which competences are needed for roles that affect health and safety performance, and to make sure employees have these competences.
Compliance
Meeting requirements, both legal requirements and other requirements you have committed to. ISO 45001 requires a process to identify your compliance obligations and to evaluate whether you meet them.
Compliance obligations
Legal requirements and other requirements that you must meet. For occupational health and safety in the Netherlands, these include the Arbowet (Dutch Working Conditions Act), the Arbobesluit (Dutch Working Conditions Decree) and the Arboregeling (Dutch Working Conditions Regulation). Requirements may also come from contracts, sector agreements or your own policy.
Context of the organisation
The internal and external factors that are relevant to your health and safety management system. External factors include legislation, the labour market and technological developments. Internal factors include your culture, knowledge and resources.
A context analysis helps you tailor your system to your specific situation.
Continual improvement
The ongoing process of improving performance. ISO 45001 is based on the principle that you do not only meet the requirements, but keep getting better. This is not a one-off action but a permanent attitude.
Corrective action
An action to remove the cause of a nonconformity or incident and prevent it from happening again. Unlike a correction (which only fixes the immediate problem), a corrective action addresses the underlying cause.
D
Documented information
Information that you must control and maintain. ISO 45001 no longer uses the terms “documents” and “records” but “documented information”. This gives you freedom in form: paper, digital, video, whatever works.
The standard specifies where documented information is required. That is your minimum. You may record more if it helps.
E
Effectiveness
The extent to which planned activities are carried out and planned results are achieved. An effective health and safety management system actually achieves what it sets out to do: fewer incidents and better working conditions.
Emergency situation
An unforeseen situation that requires immediate action to limit danger to people or damage. Examples: fire, a leak of hazardous substances, a serious accident, a risk of collapse.
ISO 45001 requires you to identify emergency situations and prepare for them with procedures and exercises.
H
Health and safety (G&VW, OH&S)
Gezondheid en Veiligheid op het Werk (G&VW) is the Dutch term used in ISO 45001, and means occupational health and safety. Internationally you will see OH&S or OHS.
Health and safety objective
A specific result you want to achieve in the area of health and safety. Objectives must be measurable where possible and consistent with the policy.
Examples: “Zero accidents resulting in absence from work”, “All employees trained in safe working”, “Noise exposure below 80 dB(A) at all workplaces”.
Health and safety management system
The whole of the elements through which you manage health and safety: policy, processes, procedures, records, resources and responsibilities. ISO 45001 describes what this system must include.
Health and safety performance
The measurable results of your health and safety management system. This includes both reactive indicators (incidents, absence) and proactive indicators (inspections carried out, improvement actions closed).
Health and safety policy
A formal statement by top management on the intentions and direction of the organisation in the area of health and safety. The policy must include a commitment to safe and healthy working conditions, to complying with legislation, and to continual improvement.
Hazard
A source with the potential to cause injury or ill health. Examples: machines with moving parts, hazardous substances, working at height, physical strain, work pressure.
Hazard identification is the first step in risk assessment. You cannot control a risk you have not identified.
Read more about identifying hazards and assessing risks.
Hierarchy of controls
The order in which you should consider control measures:
- Elimination (remove the source)
- Substitution (replace with something less hazardous)
- Engineering controls (guarding, ventilation)
- Administrative controls (procedures, training)
- PPE (personal protective equipment)
You start at the top. Only when higher levels are not feasible do you move to lower levels. PPE is the last option, not the first.
High Level Structure (HLS)
The common structure shared by all modern ISO management system standards. Clause 4 always deals with context, clause 5 with leadership, and so on. This makes it easy to combine ISO 45001 with ISO 9001 and ISO 14001.
I
Incident
An event that arises from or occurs in the course of work and that could or does lead to injury or ill health. The term incident covers both accidents (with injury) and near misses (without injury but with potential).
ISO 45001 requires you to investigate incidents, find the causes and take action.
Injury and ill health
The harmful effect on a person’s physical, mental or cognitive condition. This includes both acute injury (a cut, a fracture) and chronic conditions (hearing loss, back pain, burn-out).
Interested parties
Persons or organisations that can affect, or be affected by, your health and safety management system. Think of employees, contractors, trade unions, regulators, clients and local residents.
The standard requires you to determine who your interested parties are and what their expectations are regarding occupational safety.
Internal audit
An audit carried out by or on behalf of the organisation itself. Its purpose is to check whether the health and safety management system meets your own requirements and ISO 45001, and whether it is effectively implemented.
Internal audits are a mandatory part of the system.
Improvement
Increasing performance. ISO 45001 requires continual improvement of the health and safety management system and of health and safety performance.
K
KAM
KAM stands for Kwaliteit, Arbo, Milieu (quality, health and safety, environment), a Dutch term for an integrated management system that combines ISO 9001 (quality), ISO 45001 (health and safety) and ISO 14001 (environment).
A KAM coordinator is someone responsible for all three areas.
L
Leadership
The involvement and direction of top management. ISO 45001 requires active leadership: not only allocating resources, but personally taking responsibility for safety in the organisation.
M
Management system
A set of related elements used to establish and achieve policy and objectives. It includes structure, roles, planning, operation, evaluation and improvement.
Measurement and monitoring
Collecting data on your health and safety performance. This can be quantitative (number of incidents, absence rate) or qualitative (observations, assessments). Without measurement you do not know whether your system works.
N
Nonconformity
Failure to meet a requirement. In the context of ISO 45001, this can be a requirement from the standard itself, from legislation or from your own procedures.
An auditor identifies a nonconformity when you do not do something you should do, or when you do it differently from how you have documented it. Nonconformities require corrective action.
O
Objective evidence
Data that shows that something is true or exists. In an audit, this means the documents, records and observations that show you meet the requirements.
Occupational disease
An illness that results from exposure to risk factors at work. Examples are hearing loss from noise, lung conditions from dust, or RSI from repetitive movements.
ISO 45001 requires you not only to prevent accidents, but also to prevent occupational diseases by controlling exposure to harmful factors.
Opportunity
A possibility to improve health and safety performance. ISO 45001 requires you not only to control risks, but also to identify and make use of opportunities.
Organisation
The entity that implements the health and safety management system. This can be a whole company, but also a part such as a site or division.
Outsourced process
A process that you have an external party carry out. Even if you outsource work, you remain responsible for safety. ISO 45001 requires you to control outsourced processes.
P
PDCA cycle
Plan-Do-Check-Act. The improvement cycle that underlies ISO 45001:
- Plan: determine objectives and make plans
- Do: carry out the plans
- Check: measure and evaluate the results
- Act: improve based on the evaluation
This cycle repeats continually.
Performance indicator
A measurable value that shows how well you are performing. Examples for health and safety are incident frequency, absence rate, number of inspections carried out, and percentage of improvement actions completed.
PPE
PPE (personal protective equipment, in Dutch: persoonlijke beschermingsmiddelen or PBM) is equipment that a worker wears or uses to protect themselves against hazards. Examples: helmet, safety shoes, hearing protection, safety glasses, gloves, respiratory protection.
PPE is the last line of defence, not the first. See hierarchy of controls.
Process
A set of activities that turns inputs into outputs. ISO 45001 requires a process approach: you identify the processes that are relevant to health and safety and control them.
R
RI&E (risk inventory and evaluation)
The legally required inventory of hazards and assessment of risks in the Netherlands. The RI&E often forms the basis for the hazard identification that ISO 45001 requires.
Read more about the relationship between the RI&E and ISO 45001.
Risk
The effect of uncertainty on objectives. In the context of health and safety: the combination of the likelihood that a hazard leads to injury or ill health, and the severity of that injury or ill health.
Risk assessment is the process of analysing and evaluating risks.
Risks and opportunities
ISO 45001 requires you to identify both risks and opportunities. Risks are negative effects that you want to prevent or reduce. Opportunities are positive possibilities that you want to make use of.
S
Scope
The boundaries and applicability of your health and safety management system. You determine which activities, locations and processes fall within the scope. You must document this.
T
Top management
The person or group that directs and controls the organisation at the highest level. In a BV (private limited company), this is typically the director or the management team.
ISO 45001 places specific responsibilities on top management: showing leadership, establishing the policy, allocating resources and ensuring the effectiveness of the system.
V
VCA
VCA (Veiligheid Checklist Aannemers, Dutch for safety checklist for contractors) is a certification scheme for occupational safety that is widely used in construction and industry in the Benelux.
Read more about the difference between ISO 45001 and VCA.
W
Working conditions
The physical, social, psychological and environmental factors under which work is carried out. This includes the workplace, work methods, working hours, work pressure and the organisation of work.
ISO 45001 requires you to control working conditions that can affect the health and safety of workers.
Worker
A person who performs work under the control of the organisation. This includes not only permanent staff, but also temporary workers, self-employed contractors (zzp’ers) and others who work under your responsibility.
ISO 45001 covers more than just your own staff.
Worker participation
The active involvement of workers in the health and safety management system. ISO 45001 treats this much more centrally than its predecessor OHSAS 18001 did.
Read more about worker participation.
Workplace
The place where work is carried out under the control of the organisation. This includes not only your own premises, but also customer sites, construction sites, home workplaces and work on the road.
Next step
Go back to the requirements of the standard, or look at the step-by-step plan to start certification.