ISO 45001 is being revised — and smart organisations are already preparing!
While ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 are getting all the attention right now, ISO 45001:2018 — the global standard for Occupational Health & Safety — is also heading for a major revision, expected in 2027.
Here is what we know so far 
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
WHY IS ISO 45001 BEING REVISED?
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
The workplace has changed dramatically since 2018:
Remote & hybrid working is now the norm
Automation & AI are reshaping workplace risks
Mental health & psychological safety are now boardroom priorities
ESG & sustainability pressures are rising
Regulatory expectations on worker wellbeing have increased globally
The current standard needs to reflect these new realities.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
EXPECTED KEY CHANGES IN ISO 45001:2027
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Mental Health & Wellbeing
Explicit requirements expected — aligning with ISO 45003:2021 (Psychological Health & Safety at Work).
Remote & Hybrid Work Risks
New guidance on managing OH&S risks for workers who are not on-site.
Stronger Alignment with ESG
OHS systems expected to link with broader Environmental, Social & Governance commitments.
New Harmonised Structure (HS)
Will align with ISO 9001:2026 and ISO 14001:2026 for easier Integrated Management Systems.
Worker Participation — Strengthened
Greater emphasis on genuine worker involvement in hazard identification and risk assessment.
Emergency Preparedness
Strengthened requirements — referencing ISO 22301 for Business Continuity alignment.
Shift from Harm Prevention to Wellbeing
Moving beyond just avoiding injuries — towards actively improving worker health and wellbeing.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
EXPECTED TIMELINE
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
2023–2025 — Revision approved, working groups formed
2025–2026 — Draft International Standard (DIS) under development
2026 — DIS expected for public comment
2027 — Publication of ISO 45001:2027 anticipated
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
WHAT CAN YOU DO NOW?
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Review your current Mental Health & Wellbeing policies
Assess how you manage remote worker risks
Align your OHS system with ISO 45003 guidance
Review your Emergency Preparedness procedures
Begin integrating your OHS with your updated ISO 14001:2026 EMS
The organizations that prepare EARLY will have the smoothest transitions — and the strongest systems.