News article • 2 mins read
UKAS is delighted to announce that the mutual recognition arrangement (MLA) it has signed with the International Accreditation Forum (IAF) covering certification of management system standards has been extended to include ISO 45001 – Occupational health and safety management systems. As a consequence, UKAS accredited certification bodies providing an ISO 45001 certification services, together with their certified customers, can now enjoy worldwide recognition.
This addition to UKAS’s IAF MLA scope means that global recognition of management system certifications encompasses all of the standards covered by the MLA: Quality System Management Systems (ISO 9001), Environmental Management Systems (ISO 14001), Food Safety Management Systems (ISO 22000), Information Security Management Systems (ISO/IEC 27001), Medical Devices – Quality Management Systems (ISO 13485), Energy Management Systems (ISO 50001) and now Occupational Health and Safety Management Systems (ISO 45001).
Certification bodies accredited by UKAS to provide certification services to any of the above management system standards can promote the fact that their service is covered by the IAF MLA by using the IAF MLA Mark, subject to having a signed licence agreement in place with UKAS to do so – details on the UKAS licence agreement for use of the IAF MLA Mark can be found here.
Note: ISO 45001 was published in 2018 to replace OHSAS 18001 which shall be withdrawn in March 2021. All organisations that currently still hold a certificate for their occupational health and safety management system will need to have transitioned to ISO 45001 by this date. UKAS has been working with its accredited certification bodies operating in this area over the past two years to ensure that they can demonstrate competence in the provision of ISO 45001 certification and hence can certify their clients to the new standard under UKAS accreditation: All have now completed their own transitions and therefore are able to offer an accredited ISO 45001 certification service.
The IAF MLA for Occupational Health and Safety Management Systems only relates to ISO 45001, and does not cover OHSAS 18001 or any other OH&MS standard that may be in circulation.