Do Management Systems Standards and Certification Increase Performance in an Organisation?

There’s previously been very little independent research available to demonstrate that working to ISO management systems standards improves business performance. So, a distinct lack of hard facts and figures to confirm what many businesses around the globe have known for years – until now!  

Scholars at Harvard Business School and Duke University conducted a joint study into this. Their results confirmed there is a direct relationship between management system standards and (in the case of the study – OHSAS 18001) a reduction in workplace incidents in the United States.

They used proprietary data from some of the world’s largest certification bodies and the injury data from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics as the source of the research. Their findings? Businesses who had certified to the OHSAS 18001 standard tended to be safer workplaces.

Transition from OHSAS 18001 to ISO 45001

OHSAS 18001 became an official British Standard in 2007 and it specified the best practices for managing occupational health and safety. 

It was replaced in 2018 by ISO 45001, and much of the DNA from OHSAS 18001 can still be found in the new standard. However ISO 45001 includes a requirement for stronger leadership, better communication and participation with employees, and is more proactive in reducing workplace incidents.

You may be asking why OHSAS 18001 was utilised for the study and not ISO 45001?  Simply put, there was more historical data available for the analysis.

So, what did the data reveal?

In the words of Professor Toffell of Harvard Business School:

“For every establishment that got certified, we found another one that was similar to them that didn’t get certified. We then looked several years back at their annual safety performance, and then looked several years after the certification point to see if there is a difference in trends. The answer is yes, Certification leads to a 20% decline in the number of injury and illness cases.”

20% decline in the number of injury and illness cases

Michael Toffel and Kala Viswanathan (both from Harvard), and Matthew Johnson (from Duke University) researched approximately 300 businesses that were certified to OHSAS 18001.  They then compared the number of illness and injury cases against similar organisations that were not certified. 

The study found:

• Certified organisations tend to be safer workplaces
• Certification reduces the total number of injury and illness by 20%
• Evidence that certification also reduces the most severe injuries and illnesses - those that could lead to days away from work - by a similar scale

These results have provided independent evidence that the adoption of a management system not only drives continual improvement, but, in the case of this study, also protects employees.

Is certification necessary to reap the rewards?

It is my belief that it is. The value isn’t in the certificate itself, but in what it says about your organisation. Your supply chain, customers and stakeholders will know your business prioritises safety, quality and/or environmental protection (depending on the standard(s) you are certified to).

It is the process of certification and the reviews that follow that bring about the real value. Having an independent assessment of your management system ensures that a fresh pair of eyes reviews what is being done (or maybe something missed in error). Auditors also come with a wealth of experience and can provide examples of best practice which you may not have considered previously. 

At the heart of all ISO management systems is continual improvement.

Working with a certification body, knowing that your management system will be scrutinised, is not just meant to rule out complacency. Rather it should keep the focus on “how can we do this better”.