ISO 45001 (7)

1. HowSWOTAnalysisisBenefitinISO45001? An Occupational Health & Safety Management System, often called an OH&SMS, defines the framework in which the organization cares for the occupational health and safety of its employees. It represents a set of rules, policies, processes, plans and practices for preventing occupational health and safety hazards and minimizes risks in the workplace. OH&SMS is unique for every organization and it must be adequate to the legal requirements, occupational health and safety hazards and business processes applied in the organization. ISO 45001 represents the best practices in establishing, implementing and maintaining the OH&SMS. Its requirements and guidelines helpanorganizationtoestablisheffectiveOH&SMSandtoavoidmissingimportantelementsalongthisway. BenefitsofSWOTanalysisinISO45001 Many companies use a SWOT analysis in their business planning, and this can be a helpful tool to use in the Occupational Health & Safety Management System (OHSMS) as well. ISO 45001:2018 requires a company to identify top-level issues, risks, and opportunities, which is exactly what the SWOT analysis does. This is why ISO 45001canuseSWOTanalysisasaveryusefultooltoaddresstheabove-mentionedrequirementsofthestandard. HowdoesSWOTanalysiswork? strengths,weaknesses,opportunities,andthreats. SWOTisan acronymthatstandsfor TheSWOTanalysisis a systematic approach for an organization to identify the internal strengths and weaknesses of the organization, as well as the external opportunities and threats that affect the organization. As a strategic planning approach, this tool is used to perceive the competitive position of a company, which allows you to identify items that can be addressedtofix currentproblems anddevelopfuturepotential. Typically, the process is used as a brainstorming session where top management considers where they are doing well and where they can improve. In general, if an issue is internal and helpful, it is a strength of the organization; however,ifitisinternalandharmful,itisaweakness.Likewise,ifanissueisexternalandpotentiallyhelpful,it is an opportunity, and if itis external and potentially harmful, itis a threat. These are then listed on a chart, such astheoneshownbelow,forassessment. Once known, the issues are assessed. For internal strengths, is there some way that the company can use this to theiradvantage?Andforweaknesses, doesthecompanyneedtotakeactionto make suretheseweaknessesdonot harm the organization? With external opportunities, does the company want to take action to try to capture these positive chances, including taking some risk to capture them? And for threats, does the company need to take actionto preventthesenegativerisksfromoccurring,dependent onthepotentialconsequences?

2. HowcanyouuseSWOTanalysiswiththeISO45001OHSMS? TherearethreeclausesinISO45001:2018thatcanbeaddressedbyusingaSWOTanalysistechnique.Thefirst is clause 4.1, Understanding the organization and its context, which requires you to determine the internal and externalissuesthatarerelevanttotheOHSMS.Thesecondisclause6.1.2.2,AssessmentofOH&Srisksandother risks to the OH&S management system, which asks you to assess other OH&S management system risks (called “threats”intheSWOT analysis).Finally, clause6.1.2.3,AssessmentofOH&S opportunitiesandother opportunities for the OH&S management system, requires you to assess what you will do about opportunities for improving OH&S performance. While SWOT analysis is not used to assess risks and opportunities, it can be used toidentifytherisksandopportunities thatneedtobeassessed. So,ifyou approachtheSWOTanalysiswithafocusonoccupationalhealth&safety,you canidentify theinternal and external issues that affect your OHSMS and the ability to meet your OH&S performance goals. You can also identify the risks and opportunities that need to be considered for the future of your OHSMS. The SWOT analysis isa toolthatcan beused toidentifyandcategorizethesedifferentconsiderationsforyourOHSMS. Anexample AnexampleoftheSWOTanalysisusedforOH&Scouldincludethefollowingidentifiedelements:Strength– The company has a strong employee attitude towards maintaining a safe workplace; Weakness – The company is growing, so many new employees are being added and OH&S training is delayed; Opportunity – A supplier has identified a new chemical that is less hazardous to employee health, and that may be acceptable for use in our cleaning process; Threat – Changing customer requirements indicate that a current process chemical may need to bereplacedwithamorehazardouschemical.

3. Once identified,you can then determine what actions you will take toaddress each issue, risk, or opportunity. Note that this does not mean that actions need to be taken for everything. If you assess an opportunity and determine that you do not want to pursue it, then you do not need to. Likewise, if the actions to address a risk exceed the potential consequences of the risk happening, you can also choose to do nothing about a risk. The SWOT analysisisa tooltoidentify,notamandatetocontrol. SWOTanalysis:Atoolforallyourmanagementsystems OnethingtorememberisthattheseclausesoftheISO45001standardarecommonto alloftheISO standards,so the SWOT analysis can be used to identify internal and external issues, opportunities, and risks for all of the different management systems you choose to implement. If you alsoimplement ISO 9001:2015, the SWOT analysis can be used with a focus on providing goods and services. If you have an Environmental Management SystemusingISO14001:2015,thenyourSWOTanalysiscanfocusonenvironmentalperformance. The SWOT analysis is a tool that can be very helpful, but it is up to you to determine if it is the right tool for your organization. The ISO standards do not tell you how to meet the requirements, so if a SWOT analysis helps your companytoimprove,thenuseittothebestofyourability. IASExpertiseinISO45001Certification IAS certification is an accredited certification registrar providing different types of certificate which include the ISO 45001 certificates for various organizations or companies. Our Organization (IAS) expertise in the industry issecond tonone as weboastof besthands thathavegotten relevant experienceinISO 45001 Certification. Should you need to get ISO 45001 Certification in India, don't hesitate to reach out to us at IAS Pvt. ltd. IAS mainly focusing to conduct audit and ensure everything is properly placed towards getting your ISO 45001certification. Readmore:ةداهشISO45001