John Nolan
October 5, 2016
Most organizations or employees responsible for OHSMS (Operational Health and Safety Management System) activity or ISO 45001:2018 implementation will testify that it can be a daunting process. With all the elements of the standard to consider, plus all the associated actions to fulfill them, it can feel overwhelming when you are considering what systems, processes, and documents you have to put in place to comply. It is highly likely, however, that you have processes and documents established that either fulfill some of the ISO 45001 standard elements, or at least go some way towards doing so. So, how you can start identifying these processes and evaluating how they match with the ISO 45001 standard? That’s where a gap analysis comes in.
Firstly, let us be clear that a gap analysis is not a requirement of the ISO 45001 standard, but as outlined above it is a very good idea if you are trying to measure where your OHSMS is, versus where it needs to be with the standard itself. It can accomplish several things for you:
On completion of your gap analysis and ISO 45001 implementation plan, you will now be ready to invoke the help of your organizational leaders and set the foundations for the importance of OH&S in your workplace, an issue you can read more about in the article To what extent should organizational leaders be involved in your OH&SMS?”
A gap analysis can help an organization close the gap between its actual OHSMS and the ISO 45001 standard, and the more efficiently that is done, the more costs savings the organization will derive from getting processes defined quickly and not having to repeat the actions and communications to do so. Critically, when it comes to ISO 45001 and employee well-being being at risk, possibly the biggest advantage of the gap analysis is that it can quickly help you to improve your actual OHSMS performance, and thereby improve your employee safety and reduce risk immediately.
The real benefit of the gap analysis is that if your organization does have gaps that can lead to increased risk and danger to your employees, then they can be highlighted and enable you to close them more quickly than otherwise. Identifying areas of high priority is one of the main advantages of the gap analysis, and this may not be so easy to do during a normal ISO 45001 implementation project, where different stakeholders may tackle the clauses of the standard in the order they find easier, while your employees may be in danger where gaps exist in other areas. With the combination of cost savings, assisting with your project planning, and having an immediate and positive effect in accident prevention, can your organization afford to ignore a gap analysis?
Why not use our free Gap Analysis Tool to assess the gap between your OHSMS and the ISO 45001 standard?