Updating Our Occupational Health & Safety Management System
ISO 45001 is a new, internationally recognized, standard for Occupational Health & Safety (OH&S) processes and practices. It was published in March 2018 and will fully replace the older OHSAS 18001 standard by March 2021. Since its publication, Veeder-Root’s Altoona, PA facility has made it their mission to become the first operating company within Fortive to certify their OH&S management system to the new ISO 45001 standard. Along with ISO 45001, Veeder-Root currently has and maintains ISO 9001 certification (product quality).
“The journey to ISO 45001 has really helped to improve and provide more substantial framework to the continuous improvement of our health and safety management system. We are showing just how important the safety of our most valuable asset, our associates, is to everything we do.”
- Justin LaMantia, EHS Director for Veeder-Root
Milestones in the ISO 45001 certification process included an internal gap analysis by Veeder-Root, ISO 45001 Auditor Training, Gap Analysis by DNV GL (Det Norske Veritas and Germanischer Lloyd) a leading standards and certification organization, Stage 1 – Document Review, Stage 2 – System Review, and recommendation for certification to ISO 45001 in April of 2019.
Through the audit process Veeder-Root has added to its OH&S management system, including:
- Annual review of high-level risk analysis.
- Annual review of legal responsibilities.
- Strengthened document control to ensure the latest program or policy is accessible and can’t be compromised.
- Health and Safety Manual, with a reference on each clause of ISO 45001 and what to do to address it.
- Reoccurring internal auditing.
- Management review of the health and safety management system to align with criteria of ISO 45001.
- The standard to continuously, and endlessly, improve the Veeder-Root OH&S management system.
The new certification to ISO 45001 builds upon this process to help maintain a stronger, and continually improving, safety process. It further establishes the expectation that safety is #1 priority. Twelve internal Veeder-Root employees have been trained on ISO 45001. Veeder-Root also encourages suppliers to have the same mindset, and works to source from strong health and safety minded suppliers.
Major benefits of ISO 45001 certification include:
- Alignment with a globally recognized structure for health and safety management.
- An annual visit by DNV GL to review the Veeder-Root OH&S management system, verify its alignment with the standard, and recommend areas for improvement.
- Added structure to help review the overall system on a standardized cadence.
- Continual improvement that show measuring lagging indicators are not enough.
- Recognition by suppliers and vendors as an ISO certified management system.
Many vendors are beginning to require such a certification for OH&S management system from companies they work with across industries. Veeder-Root is proudly at the forefront of this preparation curve receiving its official ISO 45001 certification for the Altoona facility in the fourth quarter of 2019.
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If you would like more information on Veeder-Root’s Health & Safety Management System, please email Justin LaMantia (jlamantia@veeder.com). For more information on ISO 45001, visit the International Organization for Standardization website at https://www.iso.org.