Clause 7.4.1: General
The organization sets up, runs and keeps the processes it needs for communicating, inside and outside the organization, on matters that bear on its OH&S management system, deciding what is communicated, when, to whom and by what means.
What clause 7.4.1 asks
The organization sets up, runs and keeps the processes it needs for communicating, inside and outside the organization, on matters that bear on its OH&S management system, deciding what is communicated, when, to whom and by what means. It takes account of diversity, such as gender, language, culture, literacy and disability; weighs the views of outside interested parties; has regard to legal and other requirements; makes sure the OH&S information it communicates matches what the system itself produces and can be relied on; replies to relevant communications; and keeps documented information as evidence.
Communication has to reach the people who need it in a form they can use. The clause names diversity, external views, legal duties, consistency of data and a reply to what comes in.
Channels, language and time zones. A communication plan built for one building does not fit a distributed workforce. The public record names communication and consultation as an area the guidance addresses, and the scope covers mobile roles and client sites as well as home work. The plan has to say which channel reaches each group, in which language, at which time, and how a worker who is not on the intranet can read it.
Basis: Arinite, BSI Standards Development. For clause 7.4.1, the public record is a draft guideline and does not state a requirement in terms that this site can quote. The clause 7.4.1 overlay is our reading of the public scope and the named summaries, not the draft text.
Evidence for clause 7.4.1
An auditor will check that a worker who reads another language, or works nights, received the same message as the day shift.
- Communication Communication plan naming content, timing, audience and channel
- Communication Evidence diversity aspects considered (translations, accessible formats)
- Communication Records of communications and responses
- Communication Consistency check between communicated and internal OH&S data
Where clause 7.4.1 commonly fails
- Communication in one language for a multilingual workforce
- No process for responding to external communications
- Published OH&S figures inconsistent with internal records
What to do about clause 7.4.1 before the guidance lands
Map each remote group to a channel, a language and a time window. Provide an accessible format and a way to ask a question. Check that a worker who has never been on site can find the current procedure and the reporting route.
For clause 7.4.1, do the work that will be right under either instrument. The current requirement for clause 7.4.1 is ISO 45001:2018, and the certificate, if you hold one, is issued against it. The clause 7.4.1 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 7.4.1
Open the full index. The public record behind clause 7.4.1 shows the scope and the themes.
Source for clause 7.4.1: ISO 45001:2018, clause 7.4.1, retrieved 20 October 2026, record at the standards library. The clause 7.4.1 remote overlay rests on the public 45008 record named above. The clause 7.4.1 requirement, evidence and gaps are written from our clause record. Every source.