What is an ISO/PAS?
The acronym PAS stands for Publicly Available Specification. It is a type of document that ISO publishes when there is an urgent need for guidance and it is not feasible to wait for the full process of developing an international standard. Its status differs from that of a standard: it does not establish certifiable requirements and is subject to review to determine whether it becomes a standard, is retained, or is withdrawn.
Labeling the document correctly matters: writing ISO 45005 without the PAS prefix suggests that it is a full-fledged international standard, which is not the case.
What is ISO/PAS 45005?
Its exact code and name are ISO/PAS 45005:2020, Occupational health and safety management. General guidelines for safe working during the COVID-19 pandemic . It corresponds to the first edition, published in December 2020, and was prepared by the ISO/TC 283 technical committee.
Its purpose, as stated in the official document, is to provide guidance to organizations on how to manage the risks arising from COVID-19 to protect work-related health, safety, and well-being. It is aimed at organizations of all sizes and sectors, including those resuming operations and those occupying workplaces that had been closed.
The document is listed in the ISO catalogue as published and under systematic review, the procedure by which ISO periodically decides the future of its publications.
What it contributes and what it doesn’t contribute
- It provides a decision framework for assessing transmission risks at work and ordering collective, organizational and individual measures.
- It provides criteria on communication, people in situations of greater vulnerability, psychological health and case management.
- It is not a requirements standard and does not support certification.
- It does not replace the health or labor regulations applicable at any given time and in any given country, which prevail.
- It is not an updated health response protocol: it was written in the context of 2020.
- It does not determine aptitude or situations of special sensitivity: that assessment corresponds to the health personnel of the prevention service.
Read with these caveats, it remains an orderly document on how to structure an organization’s response to a health threat that affects work, from the initial decision to communication and follow-up.
How to read it today
Much of its current value lies not in the specific measures taken against COVID-19, but in the method: how an organization analyzes an emerging health threat, decides on proportionate measures, communicates them, cares for the most exposed people, and reviews its decisions when the available information changes.
For the routine management of communicable diseases in the workplace, the standard family reference is ISO 45006 , which has a broader scope and was published later. ISO/PAS 45005 remains relevant as a background document and as an example of a rapid response to a health emergency.
In Spain, protection against biological agents at work is governed by its own regulatory standard, which is mandatory regardless of any voluntary specifications.
How does it stand in relation to Spanish regulations?
In Spain, exposure to biological agents in the workplace is governed by Royal Decree 664/1997, which mandates risk assessment, agent classification, containment measures, and health surveillance where appropriate. This obligation exists independently of and takes precedence over any voluntary document.
During the pandemic, companies’ actions were also based on the health regulations in place at any given time, which changed with the evolving epidemiological situation. An international specification cannot reflect this evolution, so its current interpretation should always be made in light of the regulations in force.
The correct fit is therefore complementary: the regulatory standard establishes what is mandatory, and the specification provides criteria for organization, communication and care for the most exposed people that the standard does not detail.
Limits and common mistakes
- Citing it as ISO 45005 without the PAS prefix alters its nature.
- Present it as certifiable or as a safety seal against COVID-19.
- Applying their 2020 measures literally without checking them against the current health situation and regulations.
- Use it as a substitute for the biological risk assessment required by the regulations.
- Confusing it with ISO 45006, which addresses infectious diseases with a general scope.
Practical example
A hotel group is reviewing its internal protocol for outbreaks of communicable diseases, written during the pandemic, to adapt it to the current situation.
- Starting point. The protocol reproduces measures from 2020 without activation or de-escalation criteria.
- Revision. The analysis method of the specification is retained, the specific measures are replaced by graduated ones and are linked to the biological risk assessment of the center.
- Supplement. ISO 45006 is taken as a reference for the general approach to infectious diseases.
- Result. The protocol goes from being a dated document to a procedure with activation criteria, responsible parties and periodic review.
Differences with other publications in the family
- ISO 45001. Standard of requirements, the only one that can be certified.
- ISO 45002 and ISO 45004. Standards for guidelines on implementation and performance evaluation.
- ISO 45003. Guidelines on psychosocial risks.
- ISO 45006. General guidelines on the prevention, control and management of infectious diseases.
- ISO/PAS 45007. Specification on risks arising from climate change and climate action.
Regulatory and reference framework
- ISO/PAS 45005:2020 . Official entry in the ISO catalog.
- ISO 45006:2023 . General guidelines on infectious diseases.
- Royal Decree 664/1997 . Protection of workers against risks related to exposure to biological agents during work.
- Law 31/1995 . Mandatory general framework in Spain.
