Why ISO 45003 and what is it?
ISO standards, in simple words, are “how-to” documents or implementation guides. These standards are developed by a group of international experts who come together from around the world. They bring all of their expertise, insights, and best practices from across the globe into one central framework. This has now been done for Managing Psychological Health and Safety at Work with the ISO 45003 standard.
ISO 45003 is a child of another standard. The parent standard is ISO 45001 for Occupational Health & Safety Management created back in 2018. For those of you who love an ISO number, this is the global version of what many UK organisations used to work to, ISO18001. ISO45001 looks at the management of health and safety hazards and risks; organisations have always prioritised safety hazards and risks (the physical elements). The health aspect, most notably, psychological health is often overlooked or simply not recognised as a risk but it is. There is a legal duty of care under section 2 of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974. As employers there is not just a moral argument for managing psychological health and safety, there is also a legal duty.
Many organisations don’t know where to start when looking to implement psychological health and safety at work. They need support and guidance so, the international committee decided to write ISO 45003 as an additional guideline document to help and support organisations to understand and tackle the hazards that arise from work, and that can cause psychological ill-health.
ISO 45003 is designed to work with ISO 45001 because it is about health and safety management. They work together, however, you don’t have to have ISO 45001 to implement ISO 45003.
Why ISO 45003 is necessary?
Initiatives such as yoga, fruit balls and mental health first aid courses are focused on the individual and not on organisational causes of work-related stress. That is anything in the design of the work that is causing the stress to occur. Many employers want to help their employees, but instead of addressing the root cause of the problems within the organisation, they are repeating initiatives such as MHFA. This is a reactive approach and is way too late. When someone is stressed and off work it costs money! When individuals talk about work-related stress or when they have got cases of burnout or people going on absence because of work-related depression and anxiety, employers think it is the people that are not resilient. That they cannot cope with the environment, but in reality, it is often the design of work that is the root cause. This is why frameworks such as ISO 45003 are needed. This standard is about organisational causes and, therefore the organisational solutions to the problem and not the individual.
Kate Field from BSI
Benefits of 45003
There are many benefits of good psychological health and safety at work; employees are more focused, are more productive, and are loyal. Good employee health is simply good for business.
Organisations need to put in processes, policy and procedures to prevent workplace psychological health injuries in the same way that they do for physical health. There need to be safe systems of work and ongoing reviews - we need a culture of continuous improvement.
Certification to ISO45003
BSI is offering a certification programme for ISO 45003. As it is a child standard to 45001 this would not normally happen but as Kate explains in the video below there will be a certified standalone option that will undergo the same audit process as any other ISO standard.
Digital tools to support the adoption of ISO45003
So, you may be a seasoned pro or a complete newbie when it comes to ISO standards. There are many businesses that are new to the concept of managing psychological risk and often don’t know where to start. That is why we partnered with FloruishDx.
FlourishDx is the leading workplace digital tool to assist OHS and HR professionals to work together to address psychological risks and promote positive mental health. Developed alongside the standard it contains a 23-step guide on how to implement the ISO45003 framework along with built-in analytics, tools for risk assessments, e-learning and self-care tools for employees. Everything that you will need to align your workplace wellbeing to the standard.
Access our resource library for free materials around psychological health and safety and the link to the free copy of the standard.
Keep yourself up-to-date with our Podcast on ISO45003 and managing psychological safety at work
For more information contact us.
Learn more on the following topics:
MHFA training in Milton Keynes
Psychological safety / Psychological health