ISO 45001 is the world’s first International standard for occupational health and safety and sets out a robust and effective set of processes for improving work safety in global supply chains, with the key aim of reducing workplace injuries and illnesses. Domus Ventilation is one of the first company’s in the HVAC sector to be accredited with this new standard.

Stephen Flood, quality, safety, health and environment manager, commented: “It took six months of work to get there, so it’s not an easy task, but I’m pleased to say we delivered compliance three months earlier than expected. Following a BSI five-day audit, we scored 95 per cent compliance which is exceptionally high. We couldn’t be happier.”

ISO 45001 differs from its predecessor, BS OHSAS 18001 (which will, in time, be phased out), as it requires an integrated approach to health and safety across the entire business and requires top management involvement. For Domus Ventilation this has meant a number of alterations to business practices including a greater focus on identifying internal and external risk and active involvement of the leadership team in health and safety.

Mr Flood explained how one such example of this translates into practical terms: “We have now introduced manager safety tours. There’s a team for each area of the business that has a potential risk, such as housekeeping or electrical safety, and the dedicated team conducts regular tours to look specifically at these.

“As well as the obvious health and safety benefits of this, it’s had the added advantage of raising the visibility of the management team and promoting greater engagement with staff across all sectors of the business and at all levels.”

In addition to identifying and dealing with potential health and safety issues within the company, Domus Ventilation has also formalised its process for managing risk and safety throughout its supply chain and has evaluated its environmental impact as part of the process to achieve ISO 45001 accreditation.

Mr Flood continued: “Achieving ISO 45001 certification is a really positive step for us and for British manufacturing as a whole. For customers it provides an added level of confidence in the way in which the business operates. It shows we are a safe company and provide safe product. It makes good business sense.”