The emphasis on health, safety, and employee wellbeing in the workplace has become a hallmark for many organizations lately. Employees, consumers, and regulators are looking to management with increasing expectations about issues like work-life balance, physical safety, and even cybersecurity.
International Standards Organization (ISO) systems, including ISO 9001, ISP 27001, and ISO 45001 create international standards for occupational health and safety. ISOs are revised every eight years to be more fit for purpose; as the world changes, so do the standards of ISO systems. The newest system, ISO 45001, helps organizations by providing a roadmap for managing the risks in an increasingly complex world.
The new ISO 45001:2018 is designed to prevent work-related injury and ill-health, and provide a safety and healthy workplace. Today, more than 3.8 million occupational injuries and illnesses are reported every year, and this version of ISO is out to reduce that number significantly. So far, the product represents 58 countries to establish the common goal of significantly reducing the number of work-related injuries and illnesses. Workers’ Comp in South Carolina alone can pay up to $838 per week.
Another major area of business that ISO systems are looking to support is the field of cybersecurity. There are millions, if not billions, of internet-connected devices in use every day. Employees are on the internet working, reading emails, searching for software, and more. Roughly 25% of Windows 10 desktop users use voice searches, while others rely on the traditional way of searching. Regardless of the method, one’s presence on the internet puts them at risk of a cybercrime.
That being said, more and more people are on the internet every day. In fact, as a whole, we’re producing 2.5 quintillion bytes of data every day. Unfortunately, cyber threats from around the world are increasing too. The economic damage from cybercrime is expected to reach $6 trillion by 2021.
Recently, the first-ever National Cyber Security Summit was held in New York City. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kirsten M. Nielsen made the following statement about the state of our country’s cyber defenses.
“We are facing an urgent, evolving crisis in cyberspace. Our adversaries’ capabilities online are outpacing our stove-piped defenses. In fact, I believe that cyber threats collectively now exceed the danger of physical attacks against us. This is a major sea change for my department, and for our country’s security. Indeed, most Americans go about their daily lives without fear of personal injury or harm from our adversaries. But our digital lives are now in danger every single day.”
Nielsen announced during the conference that DHS is helping facilitate a priority of cybersecurity as well as providing support through the creation of the National Risk Management Center. This center will focus on implementing cybersecurity measures for financial services, telecommunications, and energy sectors.
“The center will bring together government experts with willing industry partners so that they can influence how we support them. Our goal is to simplify the process, to provide a single point of access to the full range of government activities to defend against cyber threats,” said DHS Secretary Nielsen during the National Cyber Security Summit.
The membership is familiar with the ISO standards and is experienced with implementation and auditing organizations and facilities that will adopt voluntary, standards-based management systems offered by ISO. The rise in quality of environmental, health, safety and security standards of the ISO can greatly benefit many organizations all over the world.
