Clause 4.3: Determining the scope of the OH&S management system
In defining the scope, the organization works out where the system's boundaries lie and what it applies to, taking into account its external and internal issues, the requirements of interested parties, and the work-related activities it plans or carries out.
What clause 4.3 asks
In defining the scope, the organization works out where the system's boundaries lie and what it applies to, taking into account its external and internal issues, the requirements of interested parties, and the work-related activities it plans or carries out. The system covers those activities, products and services that the organization controls or influences and that can affect its OH&S performance, and the scope is available as documented information.
Scope is a promise about which work the system covers. It has to be wide enough to include the activities the organization controls or influences that can affect OH&S performance, and specific enough that a reader can tell what is inside it.
Draft 4.3 Determining the scope of the OH&S management system, from clause 4.3. The public draft contents keep the clause at 4.3. No change to its substance is described in the summaries held.
Evidence for clause 4.3
An auditor will compare the scope statement with the site list, the contractor list and the work done at customer premises, and ask why anything is outside.
- Scope definitionDocumented scope statement covering sites, activities and workers
- Scope definitionJustification for any activity outside scope
- Scope definitionEvidence the scope covers contractors and off-site work under the organization's control
Where clause 4.3 commonly fails
- High-risk activities carved out of scope without justification
- Scope names locations but not activities
- Work performed at customer sites excluded
What to do about clause 4.3 before the revision
Rewrite the scope by activity, not by address. List every site, mobile worker group, contractor activity and customer premises where your work is done. Record a reason for every exclusion, and remove any exclusion that is really an uncontrolled risk.
What the record shows for clause 4.3
An auditor working on clause 4.3 will start with Documented scope statement covering sites, activities and workers. The failure this record sees most often is High-risk activities carved out of scope without justification. Both are carried into the kit as row 3, with an owner field and a dated action.
Read across from clause 4.3
Read the next clause in the group, or open the full index. The revision map shows the draft structure.
Source for clause 4.3: ISO 45001:2018, clause 4.3, retrieved 18 October 2026. The draft note rests on the public DIS contents and the two named summaries; the requirement, evidence and gaps are written from the held clause record. Every source.