ISO 45010:2026 · OHS management and ISO 45001

    Menopause and menstruation in your OHS work

    ISO 45010:2026 is a guidance standard on menstruation and menopause in working life. This page shows where it belongs in ordinary occupational health and safety work: how it relates to ISO 45001 and national law, and what you can do first.

    How it relates to ISO 45001

    ISO 45001 is the requirements standard for occupational health and safety management systems. ISO 45010 is guidance. It can be used as subject support inside a system you already run: in risk assessment, in procedures, in worker participation and in reviewing whether something works.

    The guidance can also be used directly in your internal control work, without ISO 45001 underneath.

    How it relates to national law

    National law applies regardless. In Norway, the Working Environment Act sections 3-1 and 4-1 require systematic health and safety work and a fully satisfactory working environment, and the Internal Control Regulations section 5 sets out what must be documented and that workers must take part. Other countries have their own duties, which this page does not review.

    Information about menstruation or menopause can be health data, a special category under Article 9 of the GDPR. Practical consequence: start with arrangements that are available without anyone having to explain themselves, and avoid turning a survey of symptoms into your evidence that something is being done.

    Use the standard as a subject reference. The legal duties are set by law and regulations.

    Certification and legal duties

    ISO 45010 is guidance and cannot be certified. A certifiable occupational health and safety management system follows ISO 45001.

    Legal duties are assessed on their own. An organisation can follow the guidance in the standard and still fall short of national duties.

    Four steps that fit what you already do

    The steps fit the meetings and systems you already have. They build on arrangements and need no information about individuals.

    1. 1. Read what is written down

      Open the handbook or the procedure closest to the topic. See what it says about temperature, breaks, toilet facilities and who answers when something fails.

    2. 2. Decide something in advance

      Write down what should be available by default, where it is, and who is responsible. Then nobody has to turn a predictable need into an application.

    3. 3. Connect it to the procedure

      The handbook says what the organisation has decided. The procedure says how it is done. Being systematic means the two hang together, and that what happens leaves traces that can be reviewed.

    4. 4. Check whether it works

      Add one question to your safety round or your regular one-to-one: does the arrangement work? Ask about conditions, without asking who has symptoms.

    Tools that follow the steps

    The worksheets in the guide cover the same steps. They are filled in in your browser, and nothing is stored. The sheets ask about arrangements and responsibilities. Here is what each one covers.

    • Getting started: responsibility, first action and what is agreed in the meeting.
    • The risk round: how the topic can enter an assessment you already carry out.
    • Participation: how employees and safety representatives can contribute without disclosing their own health.
    • Data flow: which information may arise at all, and how it is handled.
    • National framework: how the topics connect to Norwegian working environment duties.
    • Evaluation: how you notice when an arrangement fails.

    Questions and answers

    Can we be certified against ISO 45010?

    No. The standard is guidance and cannot be certified. A certifiable occupational health and safety management system follows ISO 45001.

    Do we need ISO 45001 to use ISO 45010?

    No. The guidance can be used directly in internal control work. If you do run ISO 45001, it can be used as subject support inside that system.

    Does the standard replace national law?

    No. National occupational health and safety duties apply regardless. A standard can support the work on those duties.

    Do we have to map who menstruates or is going through menopause?

    No. Such information can be health data, a special category under Article 9 of the GDPR. Start with arrangements that are available without anyone having to explain themselves.

    How often should this be reviewed?

    On significant changes in operations, risk or organisation, and otherwise at a fixed interval you decide, for example once a year.

    Is there a checklist?

    Yes. The tool pages in the guide The Body Comes to Work contain worksheets and checklists covering the steps above. They are open and need no account.

    Sources

    This page builds on publicly available information about the standards and Sydera's own notes. It does not reproduce text from ISO 45010 or ISO 45001.

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