How ISO 45005 can Help Transform Safety at Work After Covid-19

After over a year since the Covid-19 pandemic first gripped the world, the future workplace has started to take shape. Now ISO 45005 hopes to simplify this picture for businesses and organisations across the world. Painfully obvious is the knowledge that a global pandemic can often be mitigated by simple measures. As has been seen in countries such as New Zealand and Australia, getting ahead pays great dividends.

What is ISO 45005?

ISO/PAS 45005, "General guidelines for safe working during the COVID-19 pandemic", represents views from experts on occupational health and safety (OHS) in a pandemic. As the name suggests, it guides organisations to enact safe working conditions. Equally important is having the right practices in the workplace so that when the next health issue arises, there is a greater chance that business can continue as usual. Not only is this a great insurance policy against future pandemics and epidemics, it represents best practice in workplace health and safety.

Martin Cottam, Chair of ISO/TC 238, ISO's top OHS committee, believes that agility and flexibility are key to mastering safety in business in the post-Covid-19 world. Where certainty has taken a back seat, unpredictability requires organisations to be able to shift with laws, regulations, and simply what is safe to do. In discussing working from home and managing workplaces effectively, Cottam describes that many roles require a physical presence and interaction with others, and that what is manageable for one person may not be for another. One lesson is the need to tailor measures both to the organisation and the individual.

The Role of Digital Inspection in ISO 45005 Implementation

Just as working from home took centre stage for many businesses and employees during the pandemic, being digitally savvy is not going anywhere. Organisations that were managing their business inspections digitally before Covid-19 were the ones that saw a continued ability to adapt to new business opportunities and change to industry regulations much quicker than paper-based working setups. In this sense, there is hope that ISO 45005 is adopted quickly thanks to many organisations expanding their digital capabilities.

Implementing ISO 45005 through digital inspection offers several practical advantages:

• Rapid checklist updates: As guidelines from health authorities evolve, digital inspection forms can be updated centrally and pushed to all devices immediately, without reprinting and redistributing paper forms
• Contactless record-keeping: Digital inspection eliminates the handling of shared paper forms, which represented its own infection control challenge in 2020 and 2021
• Consistent application across sites: For organisations with multiple locations, digital inspection ensures that the same standards are applied consistently at every site, with real-time visibility from a central dashboard
• Documentation for regulatory compliance: ISO 45005 implementation requires documented evidence of the measures taken; digital inspection records provide that evidence in a searchable, auditable format
• Employee acknowledgement: Digital platforms can require workers to acknowledge safety briefings and sign off on procedures as part of the inspection workflow, creating a complete record of communication

Key Areas ISO 45005 Addresses

ISO 45005 covers a broad range of workplace considerations that remain relevant beyond the immediate context of Covid-19 and provide a useful framework for general workplace health and safety:

• Risk assessment and management for health-related workplace hazards
• Workplace controls including physical distancing, ventilation, and hygiene facilities
• Management of workers who are unwell, vulnerable, or returning from illness
• Communication with workers about health risks and measures in place
• Management of contractors, visitors, and deliveries to minimise health risk exposure
• Working from home arrangements and the associated OHS obligations
• Monitoring, review, and improvement of implemented measures over time

As workplace conditions continue to evolve and organisations navigate ongoing uncertainty about future health events, the principles embedded in ISO 45005 provide a robust foundation for workplace safety management. Combining this standard with a capable digital inspection platform positions organisations to respond effectively to whatever comes next.