ISO 45001 Stakeholder Analysis & Organisational Context: A Complete Guide
Understanding Stakeholder Analysis & Organisational Context in ISO 45001 Compliance
The OHS management system of an organisation outlines how it will manage the occupational health and safety aspects of its operations. These operations, in turn, depend on what its supplier stakeholders can deliver, what its internal process stakeholders (workers) can handle, and what its customer stakeholders are willing to accept as deliverables.
The system also integrates requirements from other stakeholders in its environment, including regulators, auditors, financiers, the public, competitors, sister companies, and even geographical or market-class collaborators, with academia not excluded.
The OHS management system is therefore founded on both the context of the organisation and the context of its stakeholders. It is no surprise that the first main section of ISO 45001—Context of the Organisation—is divided into these two key parts: Understanding the Organisation and Its Context and Understanding the Needs and Expectations of Workers and Other Interested Parties.
This duality represents the foundation of an effective OH&S management system. Systems that are built without a comprehensive understanding of these two aspects rest on shaky foundations and will not stand the test of time. On the other hand, OH&S systems grounded in these principles are inherently resilient. Even when they lack strength in other areas, this robust foundation provides a continuous opportunity for course correction and improvement.
In movie parlance, while Understanding the Organisation and Its Context (ISO 45001: Section 4.1) defines the setting—the factors shaping the organisation’s operational environment—Understanding the Needs and Expectations of Workers and Other Interested Parties (ISO 45001: Section 4.2) focuses on the actors—the stakeholders who influence its performance. And the script? That represents the organisation’s OH&S goals, guiding how the actors perform on the stage set before them.
ISO 45001 Organisational Context: Key Factors & Considerations
Understanding the Context of the Organisation is fundamental to the design of any OH&S management system, as it defines the setting in which the organisation operates. And like any setting, it dictates what is possible, plausible, and attainable within it.
An organisation operating in a first-response role in areas affected by major disasters faces unique challenges that those in stable environments do not. Furthermore, the nature of the disaster itself impacts the organisation—man-made disasters often come with heavy partisan political divisions, whereas natural disasters are generally less divisive. Both scenarios influence the organisation in different ways.
An organisation entering a new market for the first time, for example, encounters environmental challenges that those already established in that market do not. It is likely to make mistakes that others have learned to avoid, placing it in a new regulatory context where it must continue pursuing its OH&S goals while navigating unfamiliar regulations under the scrutiny of local authorities.
Unless these dynamic factors are thoroughly understood, the resulting OH&S management system is unlikely to be adaptable enough to function effectively in new environments or resilient enough to withstand the ever-changing nature of such contexts.
By understanding these factors, OH&S system designers can avoid the Five Common Mistakes that undermine the robustness of ISO 45001-compliant management systems.
ISO 45001 Stakeholder Engagement: Needs, Expectations & Strategies
Understanding the needs and expectations of all stakeholders that may influence an organisation’s ability to meet its OH&S management objectives is just as fundamental to the design of any OH&S management system as understanding the organisation’s context. Stakeholders are part of the OH&S system, whether they engage willingly or not—their needs, demands, approach, and actions all impact the organisation.
Internally, workers are often the largest stakeholder group in terms of numbers, though not always in terms of influence. In the post-World War era, workers were generally content to have a job and simply got on with it. At the height of the labour union movements, collective bargaining gave workers significant leverage, making them a formidable stakeholder group that strongly influenced organisational decisions, especially regarding safety.
Today, workers seek meaning, values, and recognition of their contributions. They are more aware of their worth and have greater mobility, meaning their impact on an organisation differs from that of previous worker groups. OH&S systems must reflect these evolving expectations.
Workers in remote locations, such as offshore platforms or isolated mining operations, are separated from family, dependent on their peers, and effectively always on the job. Their needs are vastly different from those of office-based city workers.
Government clients, with deeper financial resources and more bureaucratic processes, influence an organisation differently than private clients, whose funding sources are often diverse, each adding layers of complexity to stakeholder demands.
Small suppliers with only a few clients are more likely to comply with an organisation’s OH&S requirements, whereas larger global suppliers often adhere to their own systems, requiring the organisation to align its management system accordingly.
Consider the construction of a shopping mall. A main contractor may be able to enforce its OH&S requirements on subcontractors during the early development stages. However, this dominance fades when fit-out contractors arrive to work on individual units. These contractors often have no direct contractual relationship with the main contractor beyond coordination and communication.
By understanding the varying needs of direct subcontractors and other contractors on-site, an OH&S management system designer can develop a system that is dynamic enough to adapt to these stakeholder variations.
Overall, a resilient and adaptable OH&S management system can only be built on the strong foundations of Understanding the Organisation and Its Context and Understanding the Needs and Expectations of Workers and Other Interested Parties.
The organisation’s context represents the factors in its environment that influence what it can and cannot achieve. It defines the conditions that determine what is possible, plausible, likely, emerging, outdated, or common within its operating space. Stakeholders, on the other hand, represent the people and entities that make decisions, take actions or inactions, and hold expectations that directly impact the organisation’s ability to meet its OH&S objectives.
Everything that follows a thorough understanding of this context—from policy development to OH&S arrangements and management reviews that shape the content of the OH&S system—is built upon this foundational understanding of the organisation’s context and its stakeholders.
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