The basic difference
| Legislation | Standard | |
|---|---|---|
| Set by | Public authority | A standards body, by consensus |
| Compliance | Mandatory | Voluntary as a rule |
| Sanction | Administrative and criminal | Loss of certificate, contractual consequence |
| Content | What must be done | Usually how it is done |
Exceptions to voluntariness
- Reference: where a regulation names a standard, that standard is binding within that scope.
- Contract: a customer requirement creates a duty.
- Presumption of conformity: meeting a harmonised standard gives the presumption that the legal requirements are met — not mandatory, but the most practical route.
A standard does not replace legislation
An organisation certified to ISO 45001 is not exempt from the duties of the OHS law. The certificate shows a system is in place; it does not remove a legal duty. The converse holds too: an organisation that meets every legal duty is lawful without holding any certificate.
Keeping both in the register
The register carries both, with the source on the line: mandatory, adopted, or contractual. Without that distinction, nobody can tell which lines fall away when a certificate is dropped.
How this stands in Optifora
Of six standards, four are marked “asked” (voluntary certificates) and two “derived from country” (statutes). The questionnaire asks only the first group; the second arises from activity and country by itself and cannot be switched off.