A.7 Support: guidance, not a requirement
Annex A.7 explains resources, competence, awareness, communication and documented information. It is informative guidance. Its practical value is in the difference between a training record and evidence of competence, and between a document and controlled information.
What the guidance covers
- What counts as a resource for the system, including time and access to competent advice
- How to decide the competence needed and how to verify it, including hazard recognition
- What workers need to be aware of, including the right to stop work and the protection from reprisal
- How to communicate with a diverse workforce and how to control documented information
How to use it
Use A.7 when training is measured by attendance and communication by a poster. The guidance supports a direct test of competence: can the worker explain the hazard in their own task and the control they use? It also supports a check that the current version of a procedure is the one at the point of use.
What it does not add
A.7 does not require a learning management system, a fixed training matrix or a document management platform. It does not make every record a controlled document. The requirements remain in Clause 7.
The draft keeps the support clauses and, according to the public summaries, extends the awareness list to reporting routes and protection from reprisal, and requires training to be free of charge and in paid working time.
Read across
Source for Annex A.7: ISO 45001:2018, Annex A, informative, retrieved 18 October 2026. The draft note rests on the public DIS contents and the named summaries. Every source.