Transport and events
ISO 39001:2012
Road traffic safety management systems
ISO 39001 sets out requirements for a road traffic safety management system.
It applies to organisations that interact with the road traffic system: by running vehicles, employing people who drive for work, moving goods or passengers, or designing and maintaining roads. A certified organisation works to reduce, and in the long term eliminate, death and serious injury in road traffic crashes, and sets targets for doing so.
Who it suits
Fleet operators, logistics and haulage firms, bus and coach operators, delivery and field-service companies, organisations whose employees drive for work, and highway authorities and road maintenance contractors. It is also relevant to organisations that generate traffic, such as large sites, schools and event venues.
What certification involves
ISAO, or a certification body accredited for ISO 39001, audits the system in two stages: first the scope, the organisation's review of its role in the road traffic system, the safety performance factors it has chosen, and readiness; then how plans, controls and monitoring work in practice, for example journey planning, vehicle and driver fitness, speed management and the investigation of crashes. The certificate states the activities and sites covered. Certificates are normally valid for three years, with surveillance audits at least once a year and a recertification audit before expiry. ISAO carries out this certification itself, and also accredits certification bodies to do it. Every certificate ISAO issues, and every certificate issued under ISAO accreditation, is recorded on the public register.
Key themes
- Understanding the organisation's role in, and influence on, the road traffic system
- Choosing road safety performance factors, such as exposure to risk, safe speeds, vehicle safety, driver fitness and seat belt use, and setting targets for them
- Planning journeys, routes and schedules with safety in mind
- Selecting, maintaining and inspecting vehicles
- Driver competence, and managing fatigue, impairment and distraction
- Investigating crashes and incidents and learning from them
- Monitoring results against targets and improving
Edition
- Current edition
- ISO 39001:2012
ISO 39001:2012 is the first edition, published in October 2012. An amendment published in February 2024 asks the organisation to consider whether climate change matters to it when it reviews its context, and adds a note that interested parties may have expectations about climate change. ISO has a revision of the standard in progress. Until a new edition is published, ISO 39001:2012 remains the edition that certificates refer to.
Check a certificate for ISO 39001:2012
- Enter the certificate number or verification code at Verify a certificate, or scan the QR code on the certificate. The record shows the certificate's status today, for example valid, suspended, withdrawn or expired.
- Compare the organisation name, scope and sites on the record with the copy you were given. Check the activities, fleets and sites named in the scope.
- Check who issued the certificate, as named on the record. Where a certification body accredited by ISAO issued it, the record shows the status of that accreditation and its accreditation number, and says so if the accreditation did not cover ISO 39001:2012 when the certificate was issued.
- If the certificate is not on the register, ISAO cannot confirm it: it may have been issued under another accreditation, or a detail may be wrong. Ask the issuing body, and report a concern if something does not look right.
Related standards
This is ISAO’s own summary, not the text of the standard. Copies of ISO 39001:2012 can be bought from ISO or from national standards bodies.