ISO 45004:2024 Occupational health and safety management — Guidelines on performance evaluation 

In March of this year, ISO published ISO 45004:2024 Occupational health and safety management — Guidelines on performance evaluation  ISO 45004:2024 – Occupational health and safety management — Guidelines on performance evaluation 

Clause 9.1.1 of ISO 45001:2018 requires the organisation to have a systematic approach for measuring and monitoring its OH&S performance on a regular basis, as an integral part of its management system. ISO 45004 complements ISO 45001 by providing performance evaluation approaches that align with the requirements of the former. It allows the organisation to develop relevant indicators for the assessment of occupational health and safety (OH&S) performance. 

The organisation needs to monitor and measure the following in order to determine the performance of its OHSMS and evaluate its effectiveness: 

• The extent to which legal and other requirements are fulfilled including, where applicable, all applicable OH&S legislation, collective agreements, standards and codes and insurance requirements. 

• Characteristics of activities and operations related to the identified hazards, risks and opportunities. 

• Progress in the achievement of the organisation’s OH&S objectives. 

• Effectiveness of operational and other controls. 

The organisation should determine the most effective performance evaluation methods to evaluate if intended results are being achieved.  

It should consider OH&S processes such as training, risk assessments, contractor safety and management of change, or information acquired from incidents such as near misses, overexposure to airborne contaminants, injuries, chemical spills or illnesses. 

Inspections are relatively quick, efficient means for reviewing the status of OH&S risk control implementation, progress toward and achievement of objectives, and fulfilment of legal and other requirements. 

Pre-activity reviews and post-activity reviews can be a rich source of performance evaluation information. 

The organisation should consider using the results of safety meetings as part of the performance evaluation process, to analyse information from other activities and sources, such as injury and ill health rates, incident investigations, exposure assessment data, results of surveys or findings from inspections. 

The organisation should also consider the use of temporary focus groups, surveys and formal and informal interviews to gain insight and improve understanding of specific concerns and topics of interest. 

Management review and internal audits are also integral parts of the performance evaluation process. 

With the foregoing in mind, the organisation should use performance indicators to measure or describe the status of operations, processes, management, and conditions or results. It will need to determine the criteria against which the organisation’s OH&S performance will be evaluated, including appropriate indicators. Criteria are what the organisation uses to compare its performance against (e.g. benchmarking its OH&S performance against other organisations, standards or codes, etc.).  

To measure criteria, indicators are used. For example, if the criterion is a comparison of incidents, the organisation could choose to look at frequency, type, severity or number of incidents; the indicator could be the determined rate within each one of these criteria. 

The organisation should use both leading and lagging indicators as measures of performance but should mainly focus on leading measures in order to drive OH&S performance improvement.  

ISO 45004:2024 – Examples of leading indicators (actions taken to influence future performance) include: 

• Assessment of compliance with legal and other requirements. 

• Evaluation of the effectiveness of OH&S training. 

• Use of worker surveys to evaluate OH&S culture and related worker satisfaction. 

• Completion of statutory and other inspection schedules. 

• The extent to which programmes have been implemented. 

• The effectiveness of the worker consultation and participation process. 

• Use of health screening. 

ISO 45004:2024 – Examples of lagging indicators (measure past performance and events) include: 

• Occurrence and rates of notifiable accidents and dangerous occurrences. 

• Lost time incident rates. 

• Monitoring of ill health. 

• Actions required following assessments by regulatory bodies such as the HSA/HSE. 

The guidelines can be implemented independently or as a complement to other management systems, including ISO 45001:2018. ISO 45004 offers a flexible approach, allowing organisations to tailor the evaluation processes to their unique needs, regardless of their size, industry, or risk levels​. 

If your organisation needs support to establish effective processes for monitoring, measuring, analysing, and evaluating OH&S activities,

Please contact Antaris here for a free consultation Contact – Antaris Consulting