Clause 6.1.1: General
When planning the system, the organization weighs the issues identified under 4.1 and the requirements under 4.2 and 4.3, and identifies the risks and opportunities it must address so as to be confident the system can deliver what it is meant to, prevent or lessen unwanted effects, and keep improving.
What clause 6.1.1 asks
When planning the system, the organization weighs the issues identified under 4.1 and the requirements under 4.2 and 4.3, and identifies the risks and opportunities it must address so as to be confident the system can deliver what it is meant to, prevent or lessen unwanted effects, and keep improving. It takes account of hazards, of risks and opportunities (OH&S ones and others alike), and of legal and other requirements; weighs risks and opportunities that arise from changes and from emergencies; and keeps documented information on its risks and opportunities and on the processes and actions it needs for identifying and addressing them.
Planning has to cover two different kinds of risk: the risks to workers and others from the work, and the risks to the management system itself, such as losing the person who runs it. Opportunities belong in the same register.
Draft 6.1.1 General, from clause 6.1.1. The public draft keeps 6.1.1 under Actions to address risks and opportunities. The parent clause title changes from the 2018 wording, in line with the harmonized structure.
Evidence for clause 6.1.1
An auditor will ask for a risk to the system, not to a worker, and for an opportunity that was taken and measured.
- Risk managementRegister of OH&S risks and opportunities and of risks and opportunities to the management system
- Risk managementDocumented processes for determining risks and opportunities
- Risk managementEvidence that planned changes and emergency scenarios were considered
Where clause 6.1.1 commonly fails
- Only hazard risks captured, not risks to the management system itself
- Opportunities never recorded
- Risks from planned changes not assessed
What to do about clause 6.1.1 before the revision
Split the register into OH&S risks, risks to the system and opportunities. Add at least one system risk such as loss of a key competence or a supplier. Show the process that keeps the register current when something changes.
What the record shows for clause 6.1.1
An auditor working on clause 6.1.1 will start with Register of OH&S risks and opportunities and of risks and opportunities to the management system. The failure this record sees most often is Only hazard risks captured, not risks to the management system itself. Both are carried into the kit as row 9, with an owner field and a dated action.
Read across from clause 6.1.1
Read the next clause in the group, or open the full index. The revision map shows the draft structure.
Source for clause 6.1.1: ISO 45001:2018, clause 6.1.1, 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.