Clause 4.4: OH&S management system
The organization builds an OH&S management system, puts it in place, maintains it and keeps improving it, with the processes it requires and the way those processes interact, as the standard requires..
What clause 4.4 asks
The organization builds an OH&S management system, puts it in place, maintains it and keeps improving it, with the processes it requires and the way those processes interact, as the standard requires.
The system is the set of processes and their interactions, not the manual that describes them. This clause is the test of whether the organization can name the processes it relies on and show how they connect.
Draft 4.4 OH&S management system, from clause 4.4. The public draft contents keep the clause at 4.4. The draft aligns wording with the harmonized structure, which the summaries describe as reorganization in places without a change of substance.
Evidence for clause 4.4
An auditor will ask for a process map, who owns each process, and what happens at the handover between two processes.
- Management system establishmentSystem description with process map and interactions
- Management system establishmentProcess ownership matrix
- Management system establishmentRecords of system maintenance and improvement
Where clause 4.4 commonly fails
- System is a set of documents with no defined processes or interactions
- No owner for the system as a whole
What to do about clause 4.4 before the revision
Draw the process map from what people actually do, not from the procedure index. Name an owner for each process. Pick two interfaces, such as procurement to contractor induction, and show the record that passes between them.
What the record shows for clause 4.4
An auditor working on clause 4.4 will start with System description with process map and interactions. The failure this record sees most often is System is a set of documents with no defined processes or interactions. Both are carried into the kit as row 4, with an owner field and a dated action.
Read across from clause 4.4
Read the next clause in the group, or open the full index. The revision map shows the draft structure.
Source for clause 4.4: ISO 45001:2018, clause 4.4, 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.