ISO 45001 Awareness Training for Workers

8 October 2026 by ASC Team

ISO 45001:2018 clause 7.3 says every worker must be made aware of six things: the OH&S policy and objectives, their own contribution, the consequences of not conforming, the incidents and investigation outcomes relevant to them, the hazards and risks of their own work and the actions taken, and their ability to remove themselves from imminent and serious danger, with the arrangements that protect them when they do. An auditor tests this on the floor, not in the training register. Supervisors need more: they run the permits and the lockout, they hear the near misses first, and the standard expects them to bring workers into hazard identification and investigations.

Why does awareness carry so much weight in ISO 45001?

Because the people who get hurt are on the floor, and so is the evidence. An ISO 45001 auditor spends much of the day at the line, in the chemical store and at the loading bay, talking to operators, cleaners, drivers and agency staff. A worker who can say what the hazard is, what the control is and what to do when the control fails is evidence that the system works. A worker who points at the safety file is evidence that it does not.

“Worker” in clause 3.3 is wide. It means a person performing work or work-related activities under the organisation’s control, and the notes include top management, managerial and non-managerial persons, contractors and agency workers. If 60 agency staff work your night shift, they are workers for clause 7.3, and the auditor may well interview them first.

I once watched an auditor skip the SHEQ office for the first hour. At the CIP set she asked the cleaner what would happen if caustic splashed in his eye, and where the eyewash was. He knew the first answer, not the second. It was a long day.

What must every worker be aware of under clause 7.3?

Clause 7.3	What the auditor asks on the floor	A good answer
a) the OH&S policy and OH&S objectives	What does the company say it will do about safety? Is there a target for your area?	“We must report near misses. The target is at least ten a month for the site, and we get feedback in a week.”
b) their contribution to the effectiveness of the system, including the benefits of improved OH&S performance	What is your part in keeping people safe here?	“I do the pre-start check on the mixer interlock and I report when it fails.”
c) the implications and potential consequences of not conforming	What happens if the guard is left off?	“Someone loses fingers in the nip point, and the inspector can stop the line.”
d) incidents and the outcomes of investigations relevant to them	Has anyone been hurt in this area? What changed afterwards?	“A forklift hit a picker in this aisle. They are putting in a barrier with gates.”
e) hazards, OH&S risks and actions determined that are relevant to them	What can hurt you on this job, and what protects you?	“Caustic splash. We use the pump, not the jug, and the face shield is here at the store.”
f) the ability to remove themselves from imminent and serious danger, and the arrangements protecting them	If you thought this job was about to hurt you badly, what would you do?	“Stop, move away, tell the supervisor or my rep. Nobody gets into trouble for that.”

The good answers are about this job, in the worker’s own words. Clause 7.3 asks for awareness, not memorisation.

What does the law already require you to tell workers?

Section 13(a) requires every employer to make every employee aware, as far as is reasonably practicable, of the hazards attached to the work, the articles and substances used and the plant, and of the precautionary measures. Section 8(2)(e) lists providing information, instruction, training and supervision among the employer’s general duties.

The Regulations for Hazardous Chemical Agents (GN R280 of 2021), regulation 3, require training before exposure, after consulting the health and safety committee, and repeated at intervals the committee recommends. The Ergonomics Regulations, 2019, regulation 3, require a training programme set up after consulting the committee or representatives, given before the employee is placed. General Safety Regulation 2 requires employees to be instructed in the use of the safety equipment they are given.

Employees have duties too. Section 14 requires every employee to take reasonable care for their own health and safety and that of others, to co-operate with the employer, to obey the health and safety rules and procedures, to report an unsafe or unhealthy situation as soon as practicable, and to report any incident that may affect their health or that caused an injury by the end of the shift in which it happened, or as soon as practicable after that.

Can a worker remove themselves from danger?

ISO 45001 clause 7.3 f) requires workers to be made aware of “the ability to remove themselves from work situations that they consider present an imminent and serious danger to their life or health, as well as the arrangements for protecting them from undue consequences for doing so”. Clause 5.1 k) requires top management to protect workers from reprisals when they report incidents, hazards, risks and opportunities.

The OHS Act does not contain an express general right to refuse or leave dangerous work. That right is written into the Mine Health and Safety Act, section 23(1), and applies only to mines. What the OHS Act gives is narrower: section 26 forbids an employer from dismissing an employee, reducing their pay or changing their position to their disadvantage because the employee did anything the Act allows or requires, or refused to do anything the Act prohibits. A health and safety representative may make representations and take a matter to an inspector, and an inspector may prohibit dangerous work.

So on a South African site in general industry, the ability to withdraw is something you set up in your own system because the standard requires it, with section 26 as the statutory protection behind it. Write down how it works: who the worker tells, how the supervisor responds, how the situation is made safe, and how the decision is recorded without blame. Then teach it.

Why is a near miss an incident, and why report it?

Clause 3.35 defines an incident as an “occurrence arising out of, or in the course of, work that could or does result in injury and ill health”. A note says an incident where no injury occurs but there was potential for one may be called a near-miss, near-hit or close call. So a near miss is an incident, and clause 10.2 requires a process for reporting, investigating and acting on incidents.

On the case site we use in the courses, Mzansi Fresh Meals in Kempton Park, 2025 ended with 2 serious injuries, 11 lost time injuries, 38 first aid cases and 3 near misses recorded. Three. Nobody believes that a plant with 400 people, forklifts in a shared aisle and a chemical store had three close calls in a year. The near misses happened. Nobody wrote them down, because nobody thought anything good would come of it. The site has now set an objective of at least ten near miss reports a month, with feedback within a week. The case is a training scenario built from real audit and incident patterns; no real company is named.

Awareness training changes that: what a near miss is, how to report it in your own language, and what happened after the last one.

What does a supervisor need that an operator does not?

A supervisor is a worker too, and needs everything in clause 7.3. The job adds more. Section 8(2)(i) of the Act requires the employer to make sure work is done under the general supervision of a trained person with authority to see that precautionary measures are carried out. On most sites that person is the supervisor.

The controls on their shift. Permits, lockout, the guards and interlocks to check, and what to do when one fails.
Stopping the job. How to respond when a worker withdraws from danger, without argument and without consequences for the worker.
The first response to an incident. First aid, making the scene safe, not disturbing it after a death, a likely death or the loss of a limb without an inspector’s consent except to rescue people, remove the injured or prevent further incidents (section 24(2)), and preserving it as site practice after any other injury, and reporting it the same shift.
Bringing workers in. Clause 5.4 e) emphasises the participation of non-managerial workers in identifying hazards, determining controls and investigating incidents. The supervisor is usually the one who makes that happen.

On the case site the supervisors have had no OH&S training at all. That is common, and usually the first gap I close.

How do you make awareness reach agency staff and the night shift?

At Mzansi, 62 percent of the night shift do not have English as a first language, and agency staff get a 30 minute talk. A training register signed by every agency worker in English proves attendance. It does not prove awareness.

Clause 7.4.1 requires the organisation to take into account diversity aspects such as gender, language, culture, literacy and disability when it considers communication needs. Clause 5.4 c) requires obstacles and barriers to participation to be removed or minimised, and its note names language and literacy barriers. A note to 5.4 also says that training at no cost to workers and during working hours, where possible, can remove significant barriers.

So train in isiZulu, Sesotho or Setswana where that is what the shift speaks, at the workstation, in paid time, on the site’s own hazards and incidents, and make sure the night shift and the agency staff have a representative they can reach.

How do you prove that the training worked?

Clause 7.2 c) requires the organisation, where applicable, to evaluate the effectiveness of the actions taken to acquire competence. For awareness, the best test is the one the auditor will use: go to the floor and ask the six questions. Do it for five people on each shift, every quarter, including agency staff. Record the answers. Where a question fails, the training failed, not the worker.

Frequently asked questions

Do contractors and agency workers need ISO 45001 awareness training?

Yes. They are workers under clause 3.3, so clause 7.3 applies. The OHS Act excludes the labour broker from the definition of employer in section 1(1), so agency staff under your direction are your employees for the Act and you owe them the section 8 duty; for compensation under the COID Act the broker is the employer. For contractors’ workers, section 9 requires the employer to protect people other than its employees from its work.

How often should awareness training be repeated?

The standard sets no interval. Some regulations do: the Hazardous Chemical Agents Regulations require training to be repeated at intervals the committee recommends. Refresh it after any change, any serious incident, and whenever a floor check shows a gap.

Does a worker have to memorise the OH&S policy?

No. Clause 7.3 a) asks for awareness of the policy and objectives. A worker who can say in their own words what the site commits to, and what the target for their area is, has met it.

What is the difference between consultation and participation?

Clause 3.5 defines consultation as seeking views before making a decision. Clause 3.4 defines participation as involvement in decision-making. Workers take part in identifying hazards and investigating incidents; they are consulted on the policy and objectives.

Must every incident be reported to the Department of Employment and Labour?

No. Section 24 of the OHS Act lists the incidents that must be reported to an inspector, and the General Administrative Regulations set the time limits. Every incident, including a near miss, should still be reported inside the site’s own system.

Is awareness training the same as induction?

Induction starts it. Clause 7.3 is about what workers know while they work, so it continues on the floor and after every incident.

Which ASC course gives your workers and supervisors this awareness?

This guide is drawn from Introduction to ISO 45001:2018, FS60, the foundation course for operators, supervisors, team leaders, health and safety representatives, administrators and new SHEQ coordinators.

R1 195, in rand, no VAT added. About 6 hours, self paced, lifetime access.

The OHS Act duties of employers and employees in plain words, before any clause.
The clause 3 definitions, the hierarchy of controls, and the voice workers have through representatives and committees.
The floor interview on 7.3 a) to f), incident and near miss reporting, and what to say to an auditor or an inspector.
Timed checks, games, case study assessments and a final, all at 70 percent, and a certificate with a verification code.

Managers who have to set the culture should take ISO 45001 Management Awareness, FS61, R1 295.

Enrol now and start the Introduction today. See all eight courses at ISO 45001 training, or ask about a group arrangement on WhatsApp ASC.

Sources

ISO 45001:2018, Occupational health and safety management systems: Requirements with guidance for use (ISO)
Occupational Health and Safety Act 85 of 1993
Regulations for Hazardous Chemical Agents (GN R280 of 2021), Ergonomics Regulations, 2019, and General Safety Regulations, 1986, made under the OHS Act
Mine Health and Safety Act 29 of 1996, section 23

ISO 45001 is copyright and is not reproduced here. ASC is not affiliated with ISO. Last updated 8 October 2026.