ISN hosted a meeting of the U.S Technical Advisory Group (TAG) on the ISO 45001 standard at our Dallas headquarters this past week. The TAG, of which ISN is a member, develops positions and proposals on behalf of the United States to support the International Organization of Standardization’s (ISO) activities.
The goal of this meeting was to finalize the U.S. comments on the Draft International Standard (DIS) for ISO 45001 for occupational health & safety (OH&S) management systems—which represents one of the most significant health & safety standards to be introduced in the past 50 years. The American Society of Safety Engineers (ASSE), along with TAG representatives and the American National Standards Institute (ANSI), have worked tirelessly to develop and promote adoption of the new standard, and are very proud of their progress to date.
Mike Belcher, CSP, president of ASSE, echoed this sentiment and remarked, “We’re extremely grateful to ISN for sponsoring the TAG meeting at their headquarters in Dallas. With state-of-the-art meeting rooms and an accommodating professional staff, it’s been the perfect setting. ASSE is proud to lead the TAG efforts on behalf of ANSI as we work towards a new international standard on occupational health & safety management systems. This is no easy task, as we have to consider each and every stakeholder comment and render a disposition through a collective viewpoint. However, the end result will be a thoroughly vetted document and much-needed guidance for organizations all over the globe.”
Meanwhile, Dag Yemenu, ISN’s Senior Vice President of Customer and Technical Services, said “ISN is honored to have hosted this meeting and participated in the development of ISO 45001. We think the new standard will have an important impact on workplace health & safety globally.”
According to Kathy A. Seabrook, CSP, CFIOSH, EurOSHM, U.S. TAG Vice Chair, “The work the U.S. TAG to ISO 45001 is doing here in Dallas this week is positioning the U.S. to influence the development of the ISO 45001 Occupational Health and Safety Management System standard. Translated, this means the U.S. has the ability to impact workplace safety and health in organizations and their supply chains around the world. Thought leaders from 48 U.S. organizations, across stakeholder groups, have come together with sleeves rolled up and are working hard to develop winnable U.S. positions in preparation for the upcoming International ISO 45001 meetings in June. Our thanks to ISN for supporting this effort both as a thought leader on the U.S. TAG as well as providing their world class headquarters for our meeting. On to Toronto!”
U.S. TAG Chair Vic Toy, CSP, CIH, says ISN’s support has been fantastic, both as meeting host and committee member. “The thoughts the ISN representatives have shared in the uses of this international standard managing the safety and sustainability of contractors on a global level is visionary.”
In the coming months, drafts of the proposed ISO 45001 standard will be available through local ISO members for the public enquiry stage and final draft stage, with the approved standard expected to be published in October 2016. For more information, please click here.