ISO & Compliance Blog

ISO 45001, the world’s benchmark for occupational health and safety management systems (OHSMS), is currently undergoing a formal revision. This isn’t a sign the current standard has failed — it’s part of ISO’s routine lifecycle, reviewing standards regularly to keep pace with social, technological and regulatory change. For the roughly 500,000+ organisations worldwide certified to ISO 45001, understanding this revision now, rather than waiting for the final text, will make the eventual transition far less disruptive.

New to the standard, or want a refresher on the current requirements first? Start with our ISO 45001 in Plain English guide before reading about what’s changing for 2027.

Important note on accuracy

ISO 45001 is at an earlier stage of revision than ISO 9001 and ISO 14001, so the detail below reflects direction rather than confirmed final wording. Some specifics may still change before publication — always confirm the final published ISO 45001:2027 text and your certification body’s transition rules before acting on clause-level detail.

Where the revision stands today

The revision has moved through several distinct milestones:

• Committee Draft (CD): published in July 2025
• Approval into planning: the revision is confirmed and progressing, with the reviewed version likely published in 2027
• Draft International Standard (DIS) ballot: scheduled to open 16 June 2026 and close 8 September 2026, moving the draft from committee development into formal international voting

The DIS stage matters because by this point the structure and intent of a standard are largely established. Some detail may still shift, but the main themes are unlikely to change significantly — what’s currently being discussed is a fairly reliable preview of the final document. Compared with its sister standards, ISO 45001 is trailing slightly behind: the ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 revisions are further along and were published in 2026.

Expected publication and transition timeline

• Publication: current expectations point to ISO 45001:2027 being published mid-way through 2027, with some sources suggesting a possible March 2027 timeframe
• Transition period: a three-year transition is expected, following the approach taken for ISO 9001:2026 and ISO 14001:2026

This generous window mirrors the transition granted for the original 2018 edition and gives certified organisations ample time to adapt without a rushed scramble.

Key themes driving the revision

While exact clause wording isn’t finalised, the direction of the revision has become considerably clearer as it has progressed through drafting. Several consistent themes are emerging across multiple sources tracking the process.

1. Mental health and psychological wellbeing

One of the most significant shifts expected is a stronger, more explicit focus on psychosocial risk — including mental health, resilience, and support for a diverse workforce. This builds on the psychosocial risk provisions already embedded in ISO 45003 guidance, potentially pulling mental health considerations more firmly into the certifiable core standard rather than leaving them as a companion document.

2. Climate change integration

This is arguably the most concrete change already locked in, since it arrived as an interim amendment ahead of the full revision, issued in early 2024:

• Clause 4.1 adds a requirement to evaluate how climate change impacts the OH&S Management System’s ability to achieve its intended outcomes, including identifying climate-related risks and opportunities affecting workplace safety and health
• A note added to Clause 4.2 highlights the significance of climate-related expectations and concerns from stakeholders, including employees, regulators and the local community

The full 2027 revision is expected to build further on this, addressing heat stress, extreme weather resilience, and climate-driven occupational hazards more substantively.

3. Supply chain and contractor responsibility

Organisations are likely to see expanded expectations around managing OH&S risks that extend beyond their own direct workforce into contractors, suppliers, and outsourced operations — reflecting a broader ISO trend of holding organisations accountable across their entire value chain, not just within their own gates.

4. Organisational resilience and business continuity

Disruption planning is set to receive greater emphasis, with strengthened emergency preparedness and response, and business continuity further reviewed by referencing ISO 22301. This reflects lessons learned from pandemics, supply shocks, and climate-related disruptions over recent years.

5. Digitalisation

Digitalisation is called out as a specific area of focus — likely addressing how organisations use digital tools, sensors, wearables, and data systems for hazard identification, incident reporting and safety monitoring, and how governance of these tools fits into the management system.

6. Simplification and practical effectiveness

Despite adding new thematic content, the overall philosophy leans toward making the standard more usable, not more bureaucratic — more integration, less bureaucracy, and a stronger focus on real effectiveness. Early analysis of the broader ISO management standard revisions echoes this: the changes are expected to be moderate for most companies, far from the scale of change experienced with the 2015 edition.

7. Continued alignment with Annex SL

As with any ISO management system standard, structural consistency remains a priority. ISO 45001 will continue to follow the common terminology and structure of Annex SL, keeping it easy to integrate with ISO 9001, ISO 14001, and other management systems many organisations run in parallel.

Why the revision is happening now

The justification isn’t abstract policy tidiness — it’s grounded in ongoing workplace risk data. Over 120 workers were killed in work-related accidents in 2024/25 in the UK alone, while more than 33 million working days were lost to work-related illness and injury in 2023/24. These figures highlight a global challenge and a widespread demand for evolving best-practice standards that genuinely improve health and safety outcomes, rather than just adding paperwork.

How ISO standards get revised: the process

Whether an ISO standard is being created or revised, it moves through several stages before formal publication. Working groups involving trade bodies and direct users collate feedback; the designated Working Group reviews votes and comments and makes changes as necessary; once all parties agree and the final vote is cast, the standard is published.

The stages, broadly: Committee Draft (CD) → Draft International Standard (DIS) → Final Draft International Standard (FDIS) → Publication. ISO 45001 has completed its CD stage and is heading into the DIS ballot in mid-2026.

What this means for certified organisations

You have time, but not unlimited time. With DIS voting concluding in September 2026 and publication expected in 2027, followed by a three-year transition window, most certified organisations won’t need to complete their transition until roughly 2029–2030. However, waiting until the final text is published to start thinking about it is a mistake many organisations made with the 2015→2018 transition, leading to last-minute audit scrambles.

Recommended actions now:

1. Monitor the DIS draft once released in mid-2026 — this is when the real substance of clause-level changes becomes visible
2. Get ahead on the climate amendment, since this part is already locked in and can be implemented immediately rather than waiting for 2027
3. Start evaluating psychosocial risk management, mental health support structures, and contractor/supply-chain OH&S oversight now, since these are consistently flagged themes
4. Engage leadership early, so resourcing and strategic buy-in aren’t afterthoughts once the transition clock starts
5. Watch ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 developments too — our ISO 9001:2026 transition guide and ISO 14001:2026 transition guide cover standards ISO is aligning ever more closely with 45001

A caveat worth repeating

Every certification body and consultancy tracking this revision includes the same disclaimer, and it’s worth taking seriously: watch for the final, confirmed text, as expected changes may still shift. Until the DIS is published and voted on, some details remain fluid — though the broad direction (mental health, climate, supply chain, resilience, digitalisation) is now well established across multiple independent sources and unlikely to be abandoned.

ISO 45001:2027 won’t reinvent occupational health and safety management — but it will sharpen the standard’s focus on mental health, climate resilience, and end-to-end supply chain responsibility. Organisations that start preparing now, rather than waiting for the final published text, will find the eventual transition considerably smoother than rushing to catch up in 2029.