Occupational Health and Safety Management Systems and ISO 45001: A Bibliometric Analysis

Introduction: Occupational health and safety (OHS) is governed by mandatory national regulations, whereas ISO 45001, the international standard for OHS management systems (OHSMS), is adopted voluntarily; yet the scientific literature on OHSMS remains insufficiently mapped. This study analyzed the scientific output and academic impact of research on OHSMS and ISO 45001 between 2018 and 2026. Method: A descriptive bibliometric study was conducted, adapted from PRISMA 2020 and PRISMA-S. Scopus was searched using ("Occupational Health and Safety Management Systems" AND "ISO 45001") up to 24 August 2026; of 496 records identified, 350 documents were analyzed with Python and Bibliometrix. Results: Articles represented 64.9% of documents and 87.7% were in English. Annual output rose from 16 documents in 2018 to 67 in 2025; Indonesia, Portugal, and the Russian Federation were the most productive countries. Engineering predominated (40.6%), and 70% of documents reported no funding. Management systems and risk assessment were the main thematic axes, while safety culture, certification, and artificial intelligence appeared in the most recent period. Impact was moderate (7.36 citations per document; maximum author h-index = 5 within the corpus); the most cited document received 89 citations, and Safety Science (h-index = 9) was the most influential journal. Collaboration networks were fragmented. Conclusions: Research on OHSMS and ISO 45001 is growing but shows moderate academic impact and weak articulation of international collaboration. Practical Applications: Findings can help researchers and funders prioritize collaborative, funded studies on ISO 45001 implementation and the empirical evaluation of emerging digital and artificial intelligence applications.