ISO 45004

What is ISO 45004

Performance evaluation is where many management systems fall short: preventive activity is documented, but its effectiveness is not systematically verified. ISO 45004 addresses precisely this point with guidance on how to establish monitoring, measurement, analysis, and evaluation processes.

Its exact code and name are ISO 45004:2024, Occupational health and safety management. Guidelines on performance evaluation . It is the first edition, published in March 2024 and prepared by the ISO/TC 283 technical committee. It is listed in the official ISO catalog as a published international standard.

The standard indicates that its guidelines serve organizations of any sector and size, and that they can be applied both independently and within the framework of a system compliant with ISO 45001:2018.

What is it for?

• Define what to measure. Distinguish between outcome and process indicators, and avoid reducing the evaluation to recorded accident rates.
• Design the monitoring. Determine methods, responsible parties, frequency, and analysis criteria.
• Interpret the data. Convert the collected information into decisions about priorities and resources.
• Fuel improvement. Link results with management review and preventative planning.
• Communicate. Present performance in a way that is understandable to management and employees.

What a well-designed performance evaluation needs

1. An explicit purpose. What question does each measurement answer and who will use it.
2. Defined scope. Which processes, centers, and activities are covered and which are not.
3. Consistent methods. How the data is obtained, with what recording criteria and with what guarantees of comparability over time.
4. Useful frequency. A rhythm that allows you to react before the problem becomes entrenched.
5. Those responsible have been identified. Who measures, who analyzes, and who decides.
6. Evaluation criteria. What value is considered acceptable and what triggers an action.
7. Information preservation. Sufficient evidence to justify decisions in the event of an audit or inspection.

Without these elements, measurement becomes a collection exercise that does not guide any decision.

Who does it help?

It is especially useful for organizations whose evaluation relies almost exclusively on accident rates, which are lagging indicators based on events that are infrequent in small businesses. It is also helpful for those implementing a management system and needing to build their scorecard from scratch, as well as those who already have one but are accumulating data without drawing conclusions.

The OSH indicators sheet develops the typology of indicators and their use in preventive management.

Relationship with ISO 45001

ISO 45001 requires, among other things, the evaluation of occupational health and safety performance. ISO 45004 does not add any requirements; it simply outlines how this aspect can be addressed using practical criteria. Both standards complement each other, but do not replace one another.

The current edition of the standard remains ISO 45001:2018, with its 2024 amendment on climate action. The committee is working on its revision, which is in the draft stage and has not yet replaced the current edition.

Non-certifiable character

1. It is a set of guidelines: it does not contain auditable requirements nor does it support certification.
2. The certification of health and safety management systems is carried out according to ISO 45001.
3. ISO publishes standards; it does not certify organizations or issue certificates.
4. Presenting an ISO 45004 certification would be incorrect.
5. It can be stated that the performance evaluation system has been designed following their guidelines.

Practical application

The usual practice involves reviewing the existing set of indicators and comparing it with the guidelines of the standard: whether there are indicators that anticipate problems and not just count them when they have already occurred; whether each indicator has a purpose and a recipient; whether the frequency of measurement allows for reaction; and whether the results effectively reach decision-making.

In Spain, this work is based on the obligations of Law 31/1995 and Royal Decree 39/1997 on planning, periodic control of working conditions and review of the evaluation when circumstances change.

Limits and common mistakes

1. Confusing it with a standard of requirements and auditing against it.
2. Multiplying indicators without defining what decision each one serves.
3. Replace risk assessment with indicator monitoring.
4. Comparing indices between organizations without considering activity, size, and registration criteria.
5. Use individual indicators to evaluate people instead of the system.
6. Measure but don’t review: collect data that never reaches management for review.

Differences with other publications in the family

• ISO 45001. Standard of requirements, the only one that can be certified.
• ISO 45002. General guide for the implementation of ISO 45001.
• ISO 45003. Guidelines on psychosocial risks.
• ISO 45004. Guidelines on performance evaluation, the subject of this document.
• ISO 45006 and ISO/PAS specifications. Thematic documents on infectious diseases, safe work during the COVID-19 pandemic and risks arising from climate change .

Regulatory and reference framework

• ISO 45004:2024 . Official data sheet of the standard in the ISO catalog.
• ISO 45001:2018 . Standard of requirements that requires performance evaluation.
• Law 31/1995, articles 16 and 23. Planning of preventive activity and documentation.
• Royal Decree 39/1997, articles 6 and 9. Periodic control of working conditions and the activity of workers.