Occupational health and safety in logistics
ISO 45001 for logistics companies
Forwarders, warehouse operators and courier firms are asked for proof of occupational safety in supplier questionnaires and tenders. With Zertify you answer 34 yes/no questions online and receive a verifiable ISO 45001 certificate within 4 hours of passing and payment. There is no on-site audit.
01: Demand
Why logistics customers ask for ISO 45001
A shipper that hands over its goods also hands over part of its risk. If a driver is hurt on a customer's ramp or a picker is injured in a contract warehouse, the project stalls and the customer's name ends up in the incident file. Purchasing departments know this, so occupational safety now appears in supplier questionnaires next to quality and insurance.
In tenders the question is short: do you hold an ISO 45001 certificate? An answer with a certificate number closes the line. A no leads to follow-up questions about your safety processes, and those are slower to answer than a PDF.
The same applies in subcontracting. A carrier who drives under your name, or a staffing agency that places people in your warehouse, brings its safety record with it. A certificate gives you a document to file for the next customer audit.
02: Risks
Which logistics risks does ISO 45001 address?
The standard does not hand you a list of logistics hazards. It requires you to find them yourself, per site and per activity. The six below are the usual starting points.
- Forklift and pedestrian traffic
- Trucks and people share aisles, ramps and yards. The assessment looks at these routes and the controls on them, such as separated walkways and marked crossing points.
- Loading ramps and vehicles
- Falls from the ramp edge or the load bed, and crushing between vehicle and dock. Vehicle restraints and edge protection belong here.
- Manual handling
- Parcels, sacks and mixed pallets cause back and shoulder complaints over months, not in a single event. ISO 45001 counts this kind of work-related ill health as well as accidents.
- Racking and stacked goods
- Damaged uprights, overloaded beams and unstable pallets. Inspection routines and load signs are the controls an assessor expects to see.
- Driving and shift work
- Night shifts, tight delivery windows and long hours at the wheel reduce attention. Rostering and break rules are part of the risk assessment.
- Cold storage and hazardous goods
- Cold stress, enclosed spaces, leaking containers and spills. Each needs its own procedure and trained staff.
03: Requirements
How a logistics company meets the key requirements
The clause numbers follow the high level structure that all ISO management system standards share. The examples show what the requirement looks like on a warehouse floor or in a dispatch office.
| Requirement | Example in a logistics company |
|---|---|
| Identify and assess hazards (clause 6) | Walk through every activity: receiving, put-away, picking, loading, yard, delivery. Record the hazard, who is exposed and how serious it is. |
| OH&S policy (clause 5) | A one-page policy signed by the managing director, with a commitment to prevention, handed out in the driver briefing and posted at dispatch. |
| Worker consultation (clause 5) | Warehouse staff and drivers nominate representatives. A short safety talk opens each shift. Near-miss reports lead to a visible change. |
| Hierarchy of controls (clause 8) | A fixed barrier between forklift lane and walkway comes before reminders and high-vis vests. Protective equipment is the last line, not the first. |
| Emergency preparedness (clause 8) | An evacuation plan per site, a drill that includes the night shift, a procedure for a vehicle fire or a spill, first aiders on every shift. |
| Incident investigation (clause 10) | Every accident and near miss is logged. The cause is found, an action gets an owner and a date, and someone checks that it worked. |
04: Preparation
What to prepare before you answer the questions
Most of the work is writing down what your operation already does. The assessment is easier when these points are in place.
List your sites and activities
Warehouse, cross-dock, yard, vehicle fleet, customer sites where your drivers unload.
Record the hazards per activity
One table is enough. Hazard, exposed people, existing control, open action.
Name who is responsible
Health and safety is a task of senior management. Write down who in management owns it.
Document how workers are consulted
Meeting minutes, a suggestion box, a named representative. Something that can be shown.
Test the emergency plan
Run one drill, note what went wrong and fix it.
Start an incident log
Date, what happened, cause, action, owner. Even an empty log shows the process exists.
A company with ten employees and one site works through the same points as a group with five depots. Only the volume of records differs.
05: Zertify
Getting the ISO 45001 certificate with Zertify
Zertify issues the ISO 45001:2018 certificate on the basis of an online self-assessment. It has 34 yes/no questions. Fourteen are mandatory requirements of the standard and must all be answered yes. Among the other 20, at least 14 need a yes. The certificate is issued by G6 Agency AG under licence from SICE, and SICE reviews every assessment before the certificate is issued.
Each certificate has a number and a QR code. A buyer in a purchasing department scans the code on your PDF and lands on a public verification page. A short online re-audit confirms the certificate every year.
The price is CHF 699 in the first year, then CHF 469 per year including the online re-audit. Prices include 8.1% Swiss VAT for customers in Switzerland and Liechtenstein. The subscription renews yearly. You can cancel in your customer account at any time to the end of the current year, and the certificate then ends with the paid year. You do not need an account to buy. If you add ISO 9001 or ISO 14001, a 20% discount applies for two standards and 30% for three or more, also on the yearly fee.
06: Limits
What if a customer requires an on-site audit?
Read the wording in the questionnaire or tender. If it asks for an ISO 45001 certificate, a certificate with a public verification page answers it. If it states that an on-site audit by a certification body is required, only the classic route meets that condition.
Ask the customer before you decide. A short email clarifying what they accept costs less than a rejected document.
07: FAQ
Questions about ISO 45001 in logistics
08: Guide
Related pages
Check where your logistics operation stands
Answer the 34 questions for ISO 45001 and see which requirements are already met.
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