Performance evaluationISO 45004:2024

ISO 45004 Awareness

How to build OH&S performance indicators that tell leadership something true, and why a green dashboard is never proof of a safe organization.

8 modules + assessment35–50 minutesReviewed 19 September 2026
An ISO 45004:2024 OH&S performance evaluation awareness poster: understand performance evaluation, analyse and interpret information, turn insights into action and drive continuous improvement
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Module 1

Why performance evaluation matters, and its link to ISO 45001

ISO 45004 gives guidance on establishing monitoring, measurement, analysis and evaluation processes and developing OH&S performance indicators. It sits alongside ISO 45001's Clause 9, Performance evaluation, covered in the Academy's ISO 45001 Awareness course, which already requires organizations to monitor, measure, analyse and evaluate OH&S performance. ISO 45004 is guidance, not a certification requirements standard. It explains how to build indicators and evaluation processes that actually tell leadership something useful, rather than simply producing a number.

The question performance evaluation answers

Performance evaluation exists to answer a specific question for leadership: are the organization's controls for its most serious risks actually working, right now, not just on paper. A dashboard that looks good is not the same as an organization that is safe. The rest of this course explains why, and what to do about it.

Knowledge checkWhat is ISO 45004's relationship to ISO 45001?

It gives guidance on establishing the monitoring, measurement, analysis and evaluation processes and developing the OH&S performance indicators that ISO 45001's Clause 9 already requires; it is not a separate certification requirement.

Sources

Primary sources and further reading

  1. ISO, ISO 45004:2024 — Occupational health and safety management — Guidance on the establishment of monitoring, measurement, analysis and evaluation processes and OH&S performance indicators
  2. ISO, ISO 45001:2018 — Occupational health and safety management systems — Requirements with guidance for use
  3. ISO, Management system standards (Harmonized Structure overview)

Editorial owner: HSE Hub Editorial

Last verified: 19 September 2026

Review trigger: Review immediately after a material change to ISO 45004's published edition or its relationship to ISO 45001, and at least annually.

Professional boundary: General education only. Do not use this course as the sole basis for designing an organization's performance-evaluation process, and do not treat any single metric it describes as sufficient evidence of good OH&S performance.