ISO 45010 – A Timely Development?

In the seven years since the publication of ISO 45001:2018 and the formation of ISO/TC 283 as the ISO technical committee for occupational health and safety management, the committee has developed a range of guidance standards, addressing both long-standing and emerging OH&S issues and challenges.  We have frequently heard these initiatives described as “a timely development”, however some people appear hesitant to associate this description with the development of ISO 45010, addressing menstruation, menstrual health and menopause in the workplace.

The committee was perhaps fortunate with the timing of some of its previous developments.  ISO 45003, our standard on psychological health, safety and wellbeing in the workplace was published in 2021, at a time when factors including the global Covid-19 pandemic had made organizations increasingly aware of, and workers more willing to discuss, psychological health safety and wellbeing.  And following the development of ISO PAS 45005, our guidance on managing the risks of Covid-19 in the workplace, it was “timely” to develop ISO 45006 providing broader guidance on managing the risks associated with all types of infectious diseases in the workplace.

Some of the committee’s current development work is also being described as “timely”.   The description is clearly applicable to ISO/PAS 45007, our guidance on managing the OH&S risks associated with climate change.  It’s also applied to ISO 45008, our guidance on managing OH&S around remote working.  But there seem to be mixed views as to whether the same can be said of ISO 45010.   

I recently participated in several meetings of the working group developing this standard, as it reviewed comments on the latest draft.  It’s clear from the comments received that there is commitment to, and enthusiasm for, this standard in many countries.  And indeed the evidence of that interest can also be seen in the extent to which the recent British Standard on the same topic (BS 30416:2023), which is freely available on line at BS 30416:2023 Menstruation, Menstrual Health, Menopause | BSI has been downloaded by organizations and individuals both in the UK and around the world.  Yet, unusually for a standard being development in ISO/TC 283, we have also received comments suggesting that this standard should not be published, or that it should not be positioned as an occupational health and safety standard.  And while the number of comments expressing such views is small, they do perhaps suggest that there are those for whom the emergence of this standard is not a “timely” development, and that there is work to do to explain why this topic needs to be addressed by all organizations as an integral part of occupational health and safety.

For me, building acceptance of the relevance of this topic to occupational health and safety is simply the continuation of a journey.  Fifty years ago most organizations’ occupational health and safety management systems were effectively only safety management systems, with minimal coverage of occupational health.  In our current century, the “health” component of most OH&S management systems focussed only on physical health, with psychological health and wellbeing a difficult “taboo” area treated at best on a reactive basis.  And now, in 2025, it seems at best “timely” – though in fact long overdue – that we confront the historic gender-imbalance in occupational health and safety by fully addressing the gender-specific health issues of the, often over 50%, component of our workforce that is female. 

We have already begun to address other aspects of this historic gender-imbalance, including the provision of PPE designed solely around the proportions of the male body, and the setting of hazardous chemical exposure limits based on the male anatomy.  But surely we need to go further and be proactive in accommodating gender-specific health issues across our workforce, if we are to provide working environments in which everyone can flourish.

Recent research by the British Standards Institution (BSI), Lifting the Second Glass Ceiling, has highlighted the significant impact that menopause can have on women's careers, with some leaving the workforce prematurely due to menopause-related challenges.  So there is an economic incentive for organizations to address this issue, as it can help avoid the expensive loss of experienced female talent from the workforce, at the time when they potentially have the most to contribute to the organization.

I cannot help but feel that if these gender-specific health issues were ones experienced by men, they would have been addressed as an integral part of OH&S management, from the very beginnings of OH&S - and we wouldn’t be debating whether they should be an integral part of OH&S in 2025.

So as I prepare to stand down after seven years as chair of TC 283, one of the developments of which I am proudest is that our committee has begun this important piece of work, and that it is fully and irrevocably committed to the completion and publication of ISO 45010.  And I hope that like our other “timely” standards, such as ISO 45003, it will contribute to further evolving our understanding of what occupational health and safety needs to encompass.