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Food firms urged to take safety initiative

18-May-2018 - Last updated on 18-May-2018 at 14:48 GMT

Food firms need to be ahead of new standards for occupational accidents and work safety

Food businesses are being urged to ensure they are ahead of a new international standard that tackles occupational accidents and improves work safety.

Global certification firm Bureau Veritas said ISO 45001, which is available to manufacturers now, offered a single set of requirements to help firms implement systems to proactively prevent work-related injury and ill health.

An estimated 2.78m people die annually as a result of occupational accidents or work-related diseases – in addition to 374m non-fatal, work-related injuries and illnesses every year, it claimed.

The new standards come into force in March 2021.

Gregg Elwell, UK technical manager for Bureau Veritas, said: “Although ISO 45001 will only come into effect following a three-year transitional period, we would urge businesses to embrace the new standard ahead of time to ensure they are promoting absolute best practice.”

Bureau Veritas has launched a white paper, ‘Understanding the Transition to ISO 45001’, detailing how the standard can help improve workplace safety.

1 comment

Small correction: ISO 45001 is in effect today

Posted by K Pallop, 18 May 2018 - 14:13 GMT

It's accurate that organizations currently certified to BS OHSAS 18001 must complete their migration to the new ISO 45001 before March 2021 to maintain the validity of their certificate.

BUT food organizations looking to implement this standard for the first time can begin their journey to certification today and be realizing the benefits of certification much earlier than 2021. How long it takes will depend on the size and scope of the business.

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