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Examining, clarifying, and understanding organizational context establishes the foundation upon which the OHSMS is developed. A first step is to “determine external and internal issues that are relevant to [the organization's] purpose and that affect its ability to achieve the intended outcome(s) of its OH&S management system” (49). This includes gaining an understanding of the needs and expectations of workers and other interested parties including regulators and contractors. Consideration of organizational context is required by ISO's high‐level MSS, and represents an important advancement in MS parlance as it requires thinking more broadly (e.g. systems thinking) beyond traditional OH&S technical issues such as governance. Things that cascade from this approach include better harmonization and integration of OH&S activities with an organization's business processes.

ISO 9001:2015 and ISO 14001:2015 were the first to include this concept. It differs from earlier standards by including an ongoing assessment of changing circumstances along with the traditional elements of current conditions and practices. The primary goal of this approach is to better ensure that the management system is tailored to the needs of the organization rather than a generic template that could overlook key local issues.

New to ISO 45001:2018 is its consideration of “interested parties.” While ISO standards have traditionally included references to “interested parties” more recent versions have focused on a broader universe by requiring that the holistic “context of the organization” be considered when evaluating organizational impacts. Aside from interested parties in determining the context of the organization, considerations are made regarding possible implications and impacts from external as well as internal issues. In fact, industrial hygienists and OH&S professionals have always considered internal issues such as health and safety skills, activities and chemicals as well as biological and radiological materials. What is different, is the consideration of other types of external issues, such as cultures, competencies, and resources that have an impact on the organization and subsequently, the health and safety of its workforce and workplaces.

One tool often used at the top level to conduct this analysis is PESTLE (Political, Economic, Social, Technological, Legal, and Environmental). Essentially, using PESTLE the organization evaluates each element and determine what particular aspects are relevant to the organization. Often this is followed by SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats) analysis to identify whether each aspect is a risk or an opportunity.