ISO 45001 Consulting and Certification Support
ISO 45001:2018 is the international standard for occupational health and safety management systems. It replaced OHSAS 18001 and provides a framework for identifying hazards, assessing risk, engaging workers and improving safety performance in a structured and auditable way.
PHASCORP provides gap analysis, implementation planning, documentation development, internal audit support and preparation for Stage 1 and Stage 2 certification audits, in Ontario and nationally across all Canadian provinces.
Request a scoping call: (647) 564-6824
When ISO 45001 is the appropriate standard
ISO 45001 is generally the right choice in three circumstances.
The organisation operates across provinces or international borders, and a single provincial credential does not satisfy every jurisdiction in which it works.
A customer or corporate parent has specified certification to an international standard, which is common where a Canadian operation reports to a European or American head office.
The organisation already holds ISO 9001 or ISO 14001 and would prefer safety integrated into the existing management
system rather than maintained alongside it.
Where growth depends primarily on Ontario public tenders and general contractor prequalification, COR 2020 is usually the
more directly useful credential.
Building one system rather than three
ISO 9001, ISO 14001 and ISO 45001 share the Annex SL high-level structure of ten clauses. An organisation holding one of these already has the management system architecture in place, and safety can be built into it rather than beside it.
Where the three are maintained separately, the organisation is audited three times against substantially overlapping evidence and pays for each audit. Integration is the more economical structure and produces a system people actually use, because there is only one of it.
Where Stage 2 audits are most often lost
Clauses 1 through 3 of the standard are definitional and not auditable. The requirements sit in clauses 4 through 10, and
non-conformities cluster in a predictable set of places.
Clause 5.4, consultation and participation of workers. The most frequently failed requirement, because it cannot be created through documentation. Auditors test whether workers were genuinely consulted on hazard identification, risk assessment and controls, not whether a meeting was minuted.
Clause 6, planning. Risk and opportunity determination, legal and other requirements, and objectives that are measurable rather than aspirational.
Clause 8, operation. Operational planning and control, management of change, procurement and contractor control.
Contractor control is a recurring weakness in Canadian operations.
Clause 9, performance evaluation. Monitoring, measurement, internal audit and management review.
Clause 10, improvement. Incident and non-conformity handling, and corrective action addressing cause rather than
symptom.
We build against these five first, because that is where a Stage 2 audit concentrates.
Timeline and audit cycle
Certification typically takes 6 to 12 months from gap analysis where an existing management system is in place, or 12 to 18
months where the organisation is building from the beginning.
Certification proceeds in two stages. Stage 1 is a documentation and readiness review. Stage 2 is the full implementation
audit. The certificate is valid three years, with surveillance audits in years one and two and a recertification audit in year
three.
One matter should be established before engaging a certification body: it should be accredited by an accreditation body recognised under the International Accreditation Forum. A certificate issued outside that framework may not be accepted by the customers for whom it was obtained, and this is expensive to discover after the fact.
ISO 45001 and Ontario recognition
ISO 45001:2018 is a pre-accredited standard under Supporting Ontario’s Safe Employers. A certified system can therefore carry forward into recognition by the Chief Prevention Officer without being rebuilt against a second standard.
Ontario’s Minister of Labour has directed that equivalency between ISO 45001:2018 and COR 2020 be maintained, which allows organisations holding either to pursue the same provincial recognition pathway.
Cost
Quoted per engagement. Scope is determined by the number of sites, the maturity of your existing system, whether ISO 9001 or ISO 14001 is already held, and the extent of documentation and implementation support required.
Request a scoping call: (647) 564-6824 or info@phascorp.com
ISO 45001:2018 is the international standard for occupational health and safety management systems. It provides a framework for hazard identification, risk assessment, worker participation, performance measurement and continual improvement. It replaced OHSAS 18001.
ISO 45001 where the organisation operates across provinces or borders, or where a customer or corporate parent specifies an international standard. COR 2020 where growth depends on Ontario tenders and general contractor prequalification. Both, built as a single integrated system, where public work in Ontario is performed under an international parent.
Typically 6 to 12 months from gap analysis with an existing management system, or 12 to 18 months building from the beginning.
Three years, with surveillance audits in years one and two and a recertification audit in year three.
Stage 1 is a documentation and readiness review establishing whether the organisation is prepared for full assessment. Stage 2 is the full implementation audit, which examines whether the management system is operating in practice.
Clause 5.4, consultation and participation of workers, is the most commonly failed requirement, because it cannot be satisfied through documentation alone. Clauses 6, 8, 9 and 10 account for a substantial share of the remainder.
Yes. All three use the Annex SL ten-clause structure, which allows them to be built, maintained and audited as a single integrated management system rather than three parallel ones.
Indirectly. ISO 45001:2018 is a pre-accredited standard under Supporting Ontario’s Safe Employers, and recognition by the Chief Prevention Officer through that programme can lead to eligibility for financial incentives from the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board.
Gap analysis against the standard, then a documented implementation plan covering the clauses where the organisation is short. Documentation development follows, then implementation until the system is genuinely operating, then internal audit and management review, then Stage 1 and Stage 2 with the certification body. Where ISO 9001 or ISO 14001 is already held, much of the clause 4 to clause 7 architecture is already in place and the work concentrates on clauses 6, 8, 9 and 10.
Engaging a consultant is usually the faster route where no internal resource has taken an organisation through certification before, since the recurring failures are predictable and avoidable. Where an internal team has certified to ISO 9001 or ISO 14001, the architecture is familiar and the support required may be limited to gap analysis and audit readiness.
Two costs apply and they are separate. Consulting is quoted per engagement, according to the number of sites, the maturity of the existing system and the support required. Certification itself is charged by the certification body, independently of us, and varies with organisation size and audit duration.
Yes, and for organisations that need both it is the sensible approach. Both are pre-accredited standards under Supporting Ontario’s Safe Employers, and much of the underlying evidence serves both. Building them as one integrated system avoids maintaining two parallel sets of documentation and being audited twice against the same records.
No. Certification is issued by an independent certification body, which should be accredited by a body recognised under the International Accreditation Forum. We prepare the management system, support the internal audit and readiness review, and guide the organisation through Stage 1 and Stage 2.