The extent to which the requirements of the international standard ISO 45001:2018 for occupational health and safety management can be met in the Diyala Electricity Distribution Directorate

Abstract

The research aims to assess the actual state of occupational health and safety management in the Diyala Electricity Distribution Directorate and determine the feasibility of implementing the international standard ISO 45001:2018. This is achieved by measuring the gap between the current situation and the requirements of the targeted standard.  The research problem is embodied in the weak attention to occupational health and safety procedures in the Diyala Electricity Distribution Directorate. Based on this, the research raises key questions:  To what extent does the occupational health and safety management system in the Diyala Electricity Distribution Directorate comply with the requirements of ISO 45001:2018?  What is the gap between the actual state and the standard's requirements?  Several hypotheses were formulated to answer these questions. The case study approach was adopted, using a Checklist as the main research tool, which included the seven (7) key clauses of the standard. The findings revealed that the overall compliance level with ISO 45001:2018 requirements in the Diyala Electricity Distribution Directorate was 64%, leaving a 36% gap. Additionally, differences were observed in the relative importance of the standard's clauses within the directorate.  Based on these results, a set of recommendations was proposed to address the weaknesses in the studied directorate, aiming to close or reduce the gap and effectively implement the occupational health and safety management system.