ISO and Infectious Diseases: Watch out for ISO 45006 Guidelines

By Dr. Stefan Wagener SM (NRCM), CBSP, RBP (16)

November 23, 2022

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ISO and Infectious Diseases: Watch out for ISO 45006 Guidelines for Organizations on Preventing and Managing Infectious Diseases

Usually when we hear about ISO, we think about specific standards like ISO 9001 and the banners we see at buildings about their certification. We do not usually associate ISO with infectious diseases and public health measures. However, ISO published the first occupational health and safety standard in 2018 as part of the new ISO 45000 family (ISO 45000, 2021). For those unfamiliar with occupational health and safety systems, ISO 45001:2018 is the successor to OHSAS 18001, an international standard developed under the British Standard umbrella that dates back to 1996 with the publication of the first BS 8800:1916, the “Guide to occupational health and safety management systems”. Now, what does that have to do with infectious diseases? In actuality, ISO 4500:2018 sets requirements that directly apply to health and safety, including infectious diseases. Although by design it is not descriptive, but rather outcome and performance-oriented, it is a valuable tool for organizations and companies if they want to address health and safety.

a valuable tool for organizations and companies if they want to address health and safety

In 2020, the date of the latest ISO survey, almost 40,000 organizations had been certified according to ISO 45001:2018, and that is in just over two years (The ISO Survey, 2022). It is assumed that the majority migrated from OHSAS 18001 and more have been added in the last two years. This is important to know since it shows the value that ISO standards and independent third-party certifications have for organizations. It protects employees, clients, customers, and the environment. In addition, implementation and certification bring national and international recognition.

ISO implementation and certification bring national and international recognition

In 2019, ISO recognized the horrendous impact that Covid-19 was beginning to have worldwide and published ISO/PAS 45005:2020, “Occupational health and safety management – General guidelines for safe working during the COVID-19 pandemic” (ISO/PAS, 2020). This document is freely available and a great starting point for organizations to look specifically at how to protect their workplace against COVID and become better prepared and resilient. To be even more proactive and look to the future, ISO is now working on a new guidance document that will address infectious diseases in the workplace. The ISO Technical Committee in charge of ISO TC 283/SC-WG5) has just released the latest working draft of ISO 45006:2021 (for internal review only). However, a preview of the Introduction, Scope, and Terms and definitions is now available from ISO (ISO/DIS, 2022). Although an official publication date is unknown at this point, my guess is it will likely be sometime in 2023. We will see.

Since 45006 is part of the 45000 series and a guidance document, specific topics will include risk assessment, infectious disease control measures, guidance on work environments, etc. Once officially released, that document should quickly become the de facto document for organizations to build a comprehensive infectious disease prevention program that will allow them to protect staff, clients, customers, etc. Although 45006 is not an actionable standard (meaning implementable and certifiable), it is, by design, a guidance document; it can and should provide the blueprint for organizations (especially auditing and consulting groups) to develop specific, implementable, and “certifiable” disease prevention and cleaning and disinfection requirements.

This is potentially a great business opportunity for outside groups to build a 45006-based performance system, implementable and with an independent a third-party certification process to help organizations and businesses move to the next level in cleaning, disinfection, and infectious disease prevention practices and recognition. If you would like to learn more about 45006, please contact your national representatives in the ISO TC 283/SC-Working Group 5.

The author of this article is part of this working group within SCC (Standard Council Canada). If you have specific questions, contact the team at TIPS ([email protected]).