Clause 4.2: Understanding the needs and expectations of workers and other interested parties
The organization identifies which interested parties other than its own workers matter to its OH&S management system; what workers and those parties need and expect of it that is relevant (their requirements); and which of those needs and expectations are already, or may turn into, legal requirements and other requirements it must meet or chooses to adopt.
What clause 4.2 asks
The organization identifies which interested parties other than its own workers matter to its OH&S management system; what workers and those parties need and expect of it that is relevant (their requirements); and which of those needs and expectations are already, or may turn into, legal requirements and other requirements it must meet or chooses to adopt. Amendment 1 (2024) adds a note that these parties may hold climate-related requirements, so the review considers, for example, regulator rules on working in heat or severe weather, client or insurer climate clauses, and worker concerns about climate exposure.
The clause separates three questions that are often merged: who matters, what they need or expect, and which of those expectations the organization turns into a requirement it must or chooses to meet. Workers are a party in their own right, not one row in a stakeholder table.
Remote workers as a distinct party. Remote workers are a party in their own right, and their needs differ by location, household, disability, care responsibility, contract type and time zone. The public consultation describes shared responsibility between the organization and the remote worker, which only works if the worker's expectations are recorded and answered. Client site hosts and insurers may also hold requirements about lone working and remote locations.
Basis: BSI Standards Development, BSI. For clause 4.2, the public record is a draft guideline and does not state a requirement in terms that this site can quote. The clause 4.2 overlay is our reading of the public scope and the named summaries, not the draft text.
Evidence for clause 4.2
An auditor will test whether the register distinguishes workers by role and vulnerability, and whether any expectation was actually adopted into the legal and other requirements register.
- Interested parties Interested party register covering workers by role, contractors, regulators, unions, clients, insurers and neighbours
- Interested parties Documented needs and expectations for each party, including any climate-related expectation identified
- Interested parties Record of which expectations were adopted as legal or other requirements and where they feed the 6.1.3 register
Where clause 4.2 commonly fails
- Workers listed as one undifferentiated group with no distinction by role or vulnerability
- Climate-related expectations of regulators, clients or workers not considered after the 2024 amendment
- No recorded decision on which expectations become requirements
What to do about clause 4.2 before the guidance lands
Split the worker row into on-site, hybrid and remote groups. Record what each group needs for a safe workspace, equipment, connectivity and support, and show which expectations were adopted as requirements and where they feed clause 6.1.3.
For clause 4.2, do the work that will be right under either instrument. The current requirement for clause 4.2 is ISO 45001:2018, and the certificate, if you hold one, is issued against it. The clause 4.2 remote working preparation is an extension of the existing duty to a group of workers the system already covers, not a new system and not a reason to rebuild around a draft.
Read across from clause 4.2
Open the full index. The public record behind clause 4.2 shows the scope and the themes.
Source for clause 4.2: ISO 45001:2018, clause 4.2, retrieved 20 October 2026, record at the standards library. The clause 4.2 remote overlay rests on the public 45008 record named above. The clause 4.2 requirement, evidence and gaps are written from our clause record. Every source.