Standards / Occupational Health & Safety
ISO 45001:2018/Amd 1:2024
Occupational Health & Safety Management Systems
A complete reference to the standard, plus the ISTO Test of Understanding and downloadable syllabus. The world's first international standard for occupational health and safety management, helping organizations prevent work-related injury and ill health, and continually improve worker wellbeing.
190+
countries using ISO 45001
2.9M
work-related deaths prevented annually worldwide
PDCA
Plan-Do-Check-Act continual improvement
1. About ISO 45001
ISO 45001 is the international standard that specifies requirements for an occupational health and safety (OH&S) management system, together with guidance for its use. It gives organizations a framework to provide safe and healthy workplaces by preventing work-related injury and ill health, and by proactively improving OH&S performance. The standard sets out criteria covering leadership and worker participation, hazard identification, regulatory compliance, emergency preparedness, and incident investigation, built around the Plan-Do-Check-Act methodology.
ISO 45001 is designed to work for organizations of any size or sector, and integrates readily with other management system standards such as ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 through the shared Annex SL high-level structure. It replaced the earlier OHSAS 18001 specification and places stronger emphasis on the organization's context, leadership commitment, and the active participation of workers at all levels.
Why is ISO 45001 important?
Business benefits include:
Risk management
Provides an internationally-recognized framework for managing occupational health and safety risks, enabling systematic hazard assessment and risk control across the organization.
Reputation and retention
Demonstrates a genuine commitment to worker wellbeing, which boosts reputation, morale, and retention with employees, customers, and partners.
Regulatory compliance
Helps organizations meet their legal and regulatory obligations and promotes proactive risk management, potentially lowering insurance costs and incident rates.
Continual improvement
Enables continual improvement through the Plan-Do-Check-Act cycle, strengthening organizational resilience and enhancing long-term worker health and safety performance.
ISO 45001 now reflects climate-change considerations
ISO 45001:2018/Amd 1:2024 added climate-change considerations to the standard's requirements, recognizing the impact of climate on occupational health and safety. Our syllabus already tracks the amended requirements. Get ahead of the change.
2. ISTO Test of Understanding on ISO 45001:2018/Amd 1:2024
This test is developed for ISO management system standards ("MSS") professionals such as middle and senior management personnel, responsible persons (as defined under clause 5.3), internal auditors, third party certification body auditors and advisors/consultants who are instrumental in the effectiveness of the MSS implementation. It is a multiple choice test designed with three outcomes:
- Certifying the candidate on their understanding of the respective standard
- Measuring the level of understanding in the eight (8) A·C·C·U·R·A·T·E Analysis domains
- Ranking a candidate's performance in a personalised analytics report
What candidates receive
Certificate of Achievement
Verifiable proof of understanding, with a unique URL.
Click to enlarge ↗
Personalised analytics report
Includes your A·C·C·U·R·A·T·E analysis across eight domains and your percentile ranking against the test population.
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More than just understanding
An ISTO Test focuses not only on understanding the requirements of a standard but is also designed to ensure that those who pass the test have demonstrated a knowledge of the underlying management system principles, definitions, applicability, distinguishing requirements from unspecified requirements and the standard's practical implementation.
Credibility
Employers of ISO 45001 auditors/consultants/tutors would find the ISTO TOU qualification a good benchmark in their selection process, as the ISTO TOU adds value to employees' overall performance excellence and consistency. A course tutor with an ISTO TOU credential is able to offer learners a more accurate and complete presentation of the standard.
3. Structure of the Test of Understanding
The ISTO TOU consists of multiple choice questions with four (4) possible options of which only one (1) represents the 'best' option. The ISTO TOU is a Restricted-open-book online test, however candidates are allowed to refer to an unmarked copy of the respective ISO standard which is the only permitted reference material during the test. In an online test, the standard copy will be provided in a separate window, in addition to the test window.
Four options, one best
Each question has a single best answer.
Restricted-open-book, online
Taken on the ISTO test portal.
Standard in a side window
Refer to an unmarked copy of ISO 45001, the only permitted reference.
1) Which clause of ISO 45001 specifies requirements for hazard identification and assessment of risks and opportunities?
Question Panel
Difference between Level 1 Test and Level 2 Test
The Level 1 test assesses a candidate's understanding of the basic principles and requirements of an ISO management system standard (MSS). The Level 2 is a comprehensive test that covers principles, requirements, and the implementation in various scenarios and business sectors.
| Level 1 — Practitioner | Level 2 — Professional | |
|---|---|---|
| Time allowed | 120 minutes | 180 minutes |
| No. of questions | 80 | 120 |
| Pass criteriaCandidates who meet the Pass criteria will be awarded a Certificate of Achievement | 60% | 70% |
| Distinction criteriaCandidates who meet the Distinction criteria will be awarded a Certificate of Achievement with Distinction | 80% | 85% |
| A·C·C·U·R·A·T·E AnalysisAll candidates will receive a report indicating their level of understanding and relative ranking in each of the eight (8) domains in the star diagram | ✓ Report included | ✓ Report included |
Test Sections Breakdown
How the questions are distributed across each level.
SECTION 1
20 questions
Principles and definitions, applicability, clause 4.3
SECTION 2
30 questions
Management system requirements based on clauses 4, 5, 6, 9 and 10 (except clause 4.3)
SECTION 3
30 questions
Operational requirements based on clauses 7 and 8
SECTION 1
30 questions
Principles and definitions, applicability, clause 4.3
SECTION 2
30 questions
Management system requirements based on clauses 4, 5, 6, 9 and 10 (except clause 4.3)
SECTION 3
30 questions
Operational requirements based on clauses 7 and 8
SECTION 4
30 questions
Six (6) scenarios with five (5) questions each focusing on practical aspects
4. A·C·C·U·R·A·T·E Analysis
Based on ISTO's research and endorsed by the ISTO Technical Advisory Board, the level of comprehension of an ISO management system standard can be grouped into eight (8) domains of understanding.
- Acan Actual requirement in the standard related to documentation.
- CoConcept - the management principles on which the management system standard is based. This includes the sequence of activities as required in the standard.
- Cthe unique Clause reference of a specific requirement in the ISO management system standard.
- Uan Unspecified requirement in the standard (a requirement that does not exist).
- Ra certain Requirement in the Standard (i.e. the text of the requirement).
- Athe Applicability of the standard. This includes the intent of a requirement, and the scope of the standard.
- TTerms and definitions used in the standard. Generally these are defined in Clause 3 of each ISO management system standard. In the case of ISO 9001 QMS, terms and definitions are defined in the ISO 9000 standard.
- Ean Erroneous requirement in the standard related to documentation.
5. Test Description and Syllabus
Two levels, available in English and Traditional Chinese. Select a document to download.
Level 1 — Practitioner
Level 2 — Professional
6. Test Language Availability
ISO 45001:2018/Amd 1:2024
Occupational Health & Safety Management Systems
English
English
English, Español, Français, Portuguese, 中文 (HK), 中文 (PRC), 中文 (TW)