ISO 45001 Occupational Health and Safety Management Systems Training Course

Course overview

ISO 45001 implementation often fails when organisations treat it as a document-writing exercise rather than a working management system. Health and safety professionals must connect legal duties, hazard controls, worker consultation, contractor management, incident learning and leadership accountability into auditable processes that operate across sites. This course addresses the practical challenge of building or improving an occupational health and safety management system (OHSMS) that can withstand internal scrutiny, certification audits and real operational pressures.

Participants work through ISO 45001:2018 clause by clause and translate requirements into usable system components. They learn to define organisational context and interested parties; set OH&S policy, objectives and plans; apply hazard identification and OH&S risk assessment methods; determine legal and other requirements; establish operational controls; manage change and emergency preparedness; and measure system performance. The course also develops capability in internal audit planning, nonconformity writing, root-cause analysis, corrective action and management review.

Delivery combines instructor-led interpretation of the standard with worked examples from construction, manufacturing, facilities and service environments. Teams examine an OHSMS case file, build a risk register, draft process controls, review evidence against audit criteria and conduct a simulated internal audit. Each participant leaves with an ISO 45001 implementation action plan, a gap-assessment framework and adaptable templates for risk assessment, audit findings, corrective actions and management-review inputs.

The course is suited to practitioners who already contribute to workplace safety and now need to lead, coordinate or audit an ISO 45001-aligned management system. It gives managers approving development spend a clear return: staff who can turn the standard into controlled, measurable workplace practices rather than isolated compliance paperwork.

Course objectives

By the end of this course, participants will be able to:

• Interpret ISO 45001:2018 clauses and map them to an occupational health and safety management system.
• Conduct a context and interested-party analysis using a PESTLE and stakeholder matrix.
• Develop a hazard identification and OH&S risk assessment register with control measures and risk ratings.
• Evaluate compliance obligations and create a legal-and-other-requirements register.
• Design operational control procedures for high-risk work, contractors, procurement and management of change.
• Plan an ISO 45001 internal audit using audit criteria, sampling methods, checklists and evidence trails.
• Write nonconformity statements and corrective action plans using root-cause analysis methods.
• Prepare measurable OH&S objectives, performance indicators and management-review inputs.

Benefits of attending

Target competencies

Who should attend

• Health and Safety Managers — who are responsible for implementing, maintaining or improving an ISO 45001-aligned OHSMS
• HSE Officers and Advisors — who translate safety requirements into site controls, inspections and improvement actions
• Internal Auditors — who need to assess OH&S processes against ISO 45001 requirements and objective evidence
• Quality, Environment and Integrated Management System Managers — who coordinate ISO 45001 with existing ISO 9001 or ISO 14001 systems
• Operations and Facilities Managers — who own operational controls, contractor safety and workplace risk performance
• HR and People Managers — who support worker consultation, competence, wellbeing and incident-related processes

Requirements and prerequisites

Participants should have practical familiarity with workplace health and safety activities, such as incident reporting, inspections, risk assessments, toolbox talks or contractor control. They should understand common concepts including hazards, controls, residual risk, legal compliance and corrective action. Prior exposure to a management system, internal audit or ISO standard is useful but not essential. Participants do not need to be qualified lead auditors, legal specialists or statisticians, and no specialist software is required. Complete beginners to occupational safety should first gain basic hazard-identification and risk-assessment experience before attending.

Training methodology

The instructor uses short clause-interpretation sessions followed by applied workshops based on an organisation preparing for ISO 45001 certification. Participants analyse a case organisation’s context, build a hazard and risk register, identify compliance obligations, draft operational controls and test evidence against audit criteria. Small groups conduct audit interviews, record objective evidence and write nonconformities that distinguish requirement, evidence and gap. The final session converts course outputs into a prioritised implementation plan for each participant’s own workplace or business unit.

Course outline

Day 1: ISO 45001 foundations, context and leadership

• ISO 45001:2018 structure, terminology and process approach
• Plan-Do-Check-Act cycle within an OH&S management system
• Organisational context analysis using PESTLE factors
• Interested-party needs, expectations and worker requirements
• OHSMS scope definition and boundary-setting decisions
• Leadership accountability, OH&S policy and assigned responsibilities
• Worker consultation and participation mechanisms

Workshop: Participants create a context, interested-party and OHSMS scope statement for a case organisation.

Day 2: Planning: hazards, risks, opportunities and compliance

• Hazard identification across routine, non-routine and emergency activities
• Worker, visitor, contractor and vulnerable-person risk considerations
• OH&S risk assessment matrices and control hierarchy selection
• Opportunities for OH&S performance improvement
• Determining legal requirements and other compliance obligations
• Legal register design, evaluation frequency and evidence sources
• OH&S objectives, action plans, owners and performance measures

Workshop: Participants build a hazard and OH&S risk register, select controls using the hierarchy of controls and set related objectives.

Day 3: Support and operational control

• Competence criteria, training records and competency evaluation
• OH&S communication planning and consultation records
• Controlled documented information and document retention
• Operational planning and control for high-risk activities
• Contractor selection, induction, monitoring and evaluation
• Procurement controls for equipment, materials and services
• Management of change and emergency preparedness testing

Workshop: Participants draft an operational-control workflow for contractor work and a management-of-change assessment for a plant modification.

Day 4: Performance evaluation and internal auditing

• OH&S monitoring, measurement, analysis and evaluation methods
• Leading and lagging OH&S performance indicators
• Compliance evaluation planning and reporting
• ISO 19011 audit principles and auditor behaviours
• Risk-based internal audit programme development
• Audit checklists, sampling, interviews and objective evidence
• Nonconformity grading and audit report writing

Workshop: Teams conduct a simulated ISO 45001 internal audit, assemble evidence and issue written audit findings.

Day 5: Improvement, management review and implementation planning

• Incident, near-miss and nonconformity investigation workflows
• Root-cause analysis using five whys and fishbone diagrams
• Correction, corrective action and effectiveness verification
• Continual improvement registers and action tracking
• Management-review agenda, inputs, outputs and decisions
• ISO 45001 gap assessment and implementation sequencing
• Certification-readiness evidence and transition planning

Workshop: Participants complete a prioritised ISO 45001 implementation plan with gap actions, owners, deadlines and required evidence.

Tools & standards covered

ISO 45001:2018 Occupational health and safety management systems, ISO 19011:2018 Guidelines for auditing management systems, Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Visio

A typical training day

Live online deliveries follow the same structure in the East Africa Time zone, with shorter screen blocks and longer breaks.

What the fee includes

How you can take this course

Certification

Participants who complete the full five days receive the Skillset Development Certificate of Completion, stating the course title, course code, dates and delivery format — suitable for professional-development records and employer reimbursement.

Frequently asked questions