There has been an important change to your ISO management systems with regards climate change.
In support of the ISO London Declaration on Climate Change, ISO recently passed a resolution that will result in two new statements of text being added to a number of existing management systems standards. These include the more common standards such as ISO9001, ISO14001, ISO45001 and ISO50001. The full list of affected standards can be seen in the link below.
ISO felt this necessary because climate change is now considered an external factor that is important enough for its community to require organizations to act.
So what is the ISO amendment for climate change?
The changes to the ISO standards effect 2 clauses in chapter 4 – Context of the organization;
4.1 Understanding the organization and its context.
The organization shall determine external and internal issues that are relevant to its purpose and that affect its ability to achieve the intended result(s) of its XXX management system.
Added: The organization shall determine whether climate change is a relevant issue.
and
4.2 Understanding the needs and expectations of interested parties.
The organization shall determine:
- the interested parties that are relevant to the XXX management system.
- the relevant requirements of these interested parties.
- which of these requirements will be addressed through the XXX management system.
Added: NOTE: Relevant interested parties can have requirements related to climate change.
What does this mean for my business’ ISO management system(s) certification?
Firstly its important to say that these changes don’t require re-certification to the relevant standards, and you won’t need to transition to new versions of the standards. The additions sit in Appendix 2 of Annex SL in the ISO/IEC Directives Part 1 Consolidated ISO Supplement as amendments to the existing standards.
The overall intent of the clauses is also unchanged. It is just that climate change must now be considered as part of the process of identifying issues, and in reviewing the requirements of interested parties (which you may have already done).
However, these amendments are now republished therefore all certification bodies will expect you to review these clauses, and record decisions made in reference to whether you feel climate change is an external factor affecting your organisations ability to achieve its management system(s) or not.
In order to review of your ISO management system(s) to ensure you are confident in your compliance, why not get in touch here or give us a call on 07764302858.
Link to list of affected Standards
