OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH AND SAFETY

For over eighty years, Birmingham Airport has been a hub for international and domestic passenger & freight air travel. With services spanning IT, HR, concession management, baggage handling, security, and more, health and safety management is a complex challenge. The team was committed to going beyond compliance to deliver internationally recognised, leading performance.

Previously certified against OHSAS 18001, the Birmingham Airport team already knew the benefits of transition to ISO 45001 could offer. From leadership buy-in, the risk-based approach to evaluating all hazards supported the team as they navigated the challenges that operating an airport in a complex global landscape brings.

LRQA speaks with Simon Toseland, Head of Health, Safety and Fire at Birmingham Airport Ltd, to discuss the ISO 45001 certification process and how it has helped the team manage health and safety risks against a complex backdrop and changing global travel restrictions.

Managing international risk in a challenging landscape

Simon and the team had every confidence that their management system was robust.
However, the global pandemic shone a new spotlight on the importance of health and safety management. "The last 18 months has undoubtedly raised the profile of health and safety for everyone, especially when you have employees and passengers entering the
airport from all over the world. What's been really important for the airport is our ability to show that we haven't compromised on health & safety; actually, in this time, we've gone a step further to achieve ISO 45001 certification and demonstrated that health and safety are still high on our agenda. It's essential that we're not cutting back despite having to
reprioritise our focus to manage the complex operating landscape we're in. It has been immensely challenging, but with any difficult situation, there are always opportunities for improvement and lessons learned.”

The relationship between LRQA experts and Birmingham airport was a driving force to the success of the certification. The Birmingham Airport team contacted LRQA looking for a strategic partner who could help them take their existing management system to the next level, challenging them to go beyond their current practices and grow as they adopted ISO 45001.

“We really felt that LRQA took the time to understand us, our operations and what we were working to achieve. We wanted to work with a partner who could bring a fresh perspective to our Health and Safety Management System and challenged us. The in-depth knowledge of LRQA experts, not only ISO 45001 but the industry, enabled us to keep striving for better."

Praising the LRQA team for their approach and customer care, the Birmingham Airport team is confident that they are delivering industry-leading health and safety performance ready for every eventuality.

Successfully completed the transition from OHSAS 18001 to ISO 45001, resulting in a strong relationship with experts at LRQA as their new, independent certification body. This allows Birmingham Airport to demonstrate the highest levels of health and safety compliance for their employees, stakeholders and millions of customers who use their services and facilities each year.

The health and safety of employees, customers and suppliers is a key strategic pillar for Birmingham Airport. Consultation with all stakeholders is part of the certification process and a critical driving force for Birmingham Airport in choosing ISO 45001. Working in a highly operational environment where health and safety risks are complex, there was no question that ISO 45001 was the only option for the Birmingham Airport team.

Simon explains, “We were able to get support from the CEO and executives to deliver and maintain ISO 45001 certification, and that has been imperative in demonstrating we are
serious and do take health and safety seriously.”

Find out more about our certification and training for ISO 45001.