ISO 45001 or SCC?

Last March, both the ISO 45001 standard (replacing OHSAS 18001) and the new SCC version were published. While both standards focus on reducing health and safety risks within the work environment, there are also clear differences. That very fact may make it difficult for companies to make an informed choice between the new ISO standard and the SCC developed 25 years ago.

Whereas ISO 45001:2018, as a new standard, focuses primarily on "what" you need to regulate, SCC focuses more on "how" safety, health and the environment should be organized on the shop floor. "ISO 45001 sets detailed requirements for the various components of the management system for healthy and safe working," says Frans Stuyt, director of the Stichting Coördinatie Certificatie Managementsystemen voor milieu en gezond en veilig werken (SCCM). "Companies can then choose for themselves what resources they want to use to implement this. In addition, based on ISO 45001, organizations are required to go through a complete improvement cycle both policy-wise and operationally and to document the progress made." SCC, on the other hand, is somewhat more practical. In principle, the system was developed to make the systems of clients and contractors as compatible as possible. "That explains the greater focus within SCC on the use of concrete tools," Stuyt explains. "It gives clients clarity about what a contractor has arranged within its company walls as a minimum. Specifically, SCC-certified companies have less freedom to choose their own resources. This is in contrast to ISO 45001, within which the latitude is somewhat greater."

SCCM fact sheet on ISO 45001 and VCA.

Choosing

Companies with OHSAS 18001 have three years from the publication date of March 12, 2018, to adapt their management system to the ISO 45001 standard. Companies with SCC will have to comply with the new SCC version and may consider ISO 45001. "Which choice you make as a company depends on several things," Stuyt said. "First of all, ISO 45001 is an internationally accepted standard. That certainly makes the system interesting for organizations operating across borders. But companies that are larger and have to deal with more risks can also benefit from this standard. After all, with ISO 45001 you have a fully-fledged instrument that also fits perfectly with, for example, ISO 9001 and ISO 14001. But first and foremost, the decision to opt for one or the other obviously depends on the health and safety risks existing within the organization. My advice is therefore: look carefully at what dangers lurk within your organization. But also consider the wishes of customers in your decision. What do they want? It often happens that a company chooses SCC because the client is only familiar with it. In order to balance each other's knowledge and needs, it is therefore important to enter into discussion with each other, make agreements and carefully secure them. So that eventually the optimal management system is chosen and the existing risks are excluded as much as possible. Because that, of course, remains the main issue."

"Look carefully at what dangers are lurking within your organization."