Karachi: Owing to workplace injuries and diseases, over 7,500 people die each day, accounting for nearly 2.78 million global deaths every year. In Pakistan, the rate of work-related accidents has also been increasing at an alarming rate, which calls for a unified effort from the business community and workplace regulatory agencies operating in the country. To deal with the burning issue, ISO has recently launched the ISO 45001, a newly-developed ISO standard for management systems of occupational health and safety (OH&S) that provides a predefined framework for companies in Pakistan to help them improve their workplace safety efforts, reduce working risks and create a safer working environment for employees and workers.
“Being offered to local organisations and industrial units in Pakistan, the ISO 45001 is based on management system approaches similar to ISO 14001 and ISO 9001 standards and it also takes into account such International Standards as OHSAS 18001, the International Labour Organization’s ILO-OSH Guidelines, the ILO’s international labour standards and conventions and the rest of the standards followed nationally and internationally,” said Tariq Nisar, an internationally certified health, safety and environmental (HSE) expert as well as an HSE Trainer associated with the Vertex HSE Services, a pool of globally certified HSE consultants and trainers.
He said the occupational injuries and diseases have a significant impact both on employers and the national economy, causing numerous losses in the forms of employee absenteeism, pre-mature retirements and escalating insurance premiums. Companies in Pakistan must adopt holistic HSE approaches that encompass employee trainings, regular assessments, inspections and many other project management programmes that fall under the health and safety umbrella, Nisar added.