Management system guidance
4.0 Context of the Organization
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4.2 Understanding the needs and expectations of workers and other interested parties
Clause 4.2 of ISO 45001:2018 requires your organization to determine three things:
- The interested parties, other than workers, that are relevant to the OH&S management system;
- The relevant needs and expectations (in other words, the requirements) of workers and of those other interested parties;
- Which of those needs and expectations are already, or could become, legal requirements and other requirements.
Amendment 1:2024 added a note to the clause pointing out that relevant interested parties can have requirements related to climate change. A note is guidance rather than an extra requirement, but it signals that auditors will expect climate-related needs to have been considered.
Workers come first
The title of the clause puts workers first for a reason. Workers are always relevant interested parties, so you do not need to decide whether to include them; you need to understand their needs and expectations. Remember that ISO 45001 defines a worker broadly (see clause 3): it includes managers and non-managerial staff, temporary, part-time and seasonal staff, agency workers, and contractors’ staff where you control or share control of their work.
Think about groups of workers whose needs may differ, such as:
- Young or inexperienced workers, apprentices and new starters;
- New and expectant mothers, and workers with disabilities or health conditions;
- Lone workers, mobile workers, drivers and home workers;
- Night and shift workers;
- Workers whose first language differs from the working language of the site.
Typical needs and expectations of workers include a safe workplace and safe equipment, information, instruction and training, suitable PPE and welfare facilities, being consulted and able to take part in decisions, and being able to report hazards and incidents without fear of reprisal. Clause 5.4 requires you to consult non-managerial workers when determining the needs and expectations of interested parties, so involve workers and their representatives in this exercise.
Other interested parties
Annex A.4.2 gives examples of other interested parties, which include:
- Legal and regulatory authorities at local, regional, national or international level;
- Parent organizations, owners and shareholders;
- Suppliers, contractors and subcontractors;
- Workers’ representatives, trade unions and employers’ associations;
- Clients, customers and visitors;
- Neighbors, the local community and the general public;
- Emergency, medical and other community services;
- Insurers, the media, academia, business associations and non-governmental organizations;
- OH&S organizations and occupational health and safety professionals.
Not every party will be relevant. To decide, ask: ‘Can this party, or its requirements, affect our ability to achieve the intended outcomes of the OH&S management system, or could it be affected by our OH&S performance?’ If the answer is yes, capture the party and its requirements. Brainstorming, a workshop or a stakeholder map are all practical ways to build the list. As with the context review in clause 4.1, cross-functional input is vital, because certain functions deal with particular parties, for example procurement with contractors and HR with unions.
Needs and expectations
Keep the focus on needs and expectations that relate to occupational health and safety. Typical examples are:
- Regulators – compliance with health and safety law, notification of specified incidents and cooperation with inspections;
- Clients and principal contractors – pre-qualification, site rules, permit-to-work systems and incident reporting;
- Contractors and suppliers – information on site hazards, coordination with other employers and clear safety requirements in contracts;
- Insurers – effective risk controls, inspection of plant and a good claims history;
- Neighbors and the public – protection from harm caused by your activities, such as site traffic, falling objects or fire;
- Emergency services – site access information and an up-to-date inventory of hazardous substances.
Which needs become legal requirements and other requirements?
Some needs and expectations are mandatory because they have been written into laws and regulations. Others your organization may choose to adopt, such as a client’s safety code, an industry scheme, a collective agreement, an insurer’s conditions or a parent company standard. Once you adopt them, they become ‘other requirements’ and must be addressed when planning the OH&S management system. Identify legal requirements before other requirements, and carry both into your register of legal requirements and other requirements under 6.1.3.
Climate-related requirements
Following Amendment 1:2024, check whether any relevant interested party has requirements related to climate change. Examples include clients asking for heat-stress plans for outdoor work, regulators issuing extreme-heat or flooding guidance, insurers expecting severe-weather emergency plans, unions negotiating hot-weather working arrangements, and parent companies setting group climate commitments. Where such requirements are relevant, treat them like any other need or expectation and decide whether they become legal requirements or other requirements.
Capturing and reviewing the information
ISO 45001:2018 does not require documented information for clause 4.2, but you will need to show how the information was determined and used. Practical options include:
- A context and interested parties matrix or simple spreadsheet with version control;
- Inputs to your hazard identification and risk assessment and to your risk and opportunity register;
- Entries in your register of legal requirements and other requirements;
- Minutes of management review and safety committee meetings.
Revisit the information periodically, because needs and expectations, particularly those relating to climate change, change over time. Changes in the needs and expectations of interested parties are a required input to management review (9.3).
Links to other clauses
- 4.3 – the requirements determined here must be taken into account when setting the scope;
- 6.1.1 – they must be considered when determining risks and opportunities;
- 6.1.3 – legal requirements and other requirements are determined in detail and kept up to date;
- 7.4 – the views of external interested parties must be considered when setting up communication processes;
- 5.2 – the OH&S policy must be available to interested parties, as appropriate.
You should seek and record evidence that your organization has identified workers and other relevant interested parties, involved non-managerial workers in determining their needs and expectations, considered climate-related requirements, decided which needs and expectations are or could become legal requirements and other requirements, and reviews this information when circumstances change.
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