Climate change-related changes to ISO standards
In the field of Management Systems, recent changes linked to climate change have affected ISO standards.
In support of the London Declaration, and in response to the need to take account of the effect of climate change on the ability to achieve desired management system results, two slight modifications have been made to most ISO Standards.
The two amendments concern paragraphs 4.1 and 4.2.
In the two standards that concern us, section 4.1, “Understanding the organization and its context”, which calls for an assessment of external and internal issues relevant to its purpose, has been expanded to include a climate change perspective. The question now is whether climate change is a relevant issue.
Then, for section 4.2 “Understanding the needs and expectations of stakeholders”, the standards also integrate the notion of climate change for stakeholders relevant to the management system.
The aim of these changes
The fundamental aim of the changes is to ensure that climate change is fully integrated into the design and implementation of any management system.
The International Accreditation Forum and the publisher of the ISO Standards emphasize that these changes are not intended to divert attention from other aspects of the management system. On the contrary, they reinforce the importance of considering climate change as an external factor:
The general intent of the requirements in clauses 4.1 and 4.2 remains unchanged; these clauses already include the need for the organization to take into account all internal and external issues that may impact on the effectiveness of their management system; these new inclusions ensure that climate change is taken into account in the management system, and that it is a sufficiently important external factor for our community to require organizations to take it into account now.
They also point out that taking climate change into account can have a different effect on each system. Indeed, the effect on a quality management system (ISO 9001) may be very different from that on a health and safety management system. (ISO 45001)
Finally, the IAF and ISO wish to emphasize that climate change is a vital subject, and while the addition of climate considerations is important, standards have always included the need for the organization to take into account all issues affecting management systems. As a result, many organizations implementing management systems are already taking climate change into account.
Integrating these changes into our NV COMPLIANCE solution
In our NV COMPLIANCE regulatory and compliance monitoring system, which includes ISO 45001, ISO 14001 and ISO 9001, we ensure that each amendment is notified within the web application. This enables our users to quickly assess their compliance with the new normative requirement.
Factual: here are the changes, word by word:
ISO 9001 – Quality management systems – Requirements
AMENDMENT 1: Action on climate change
4.1
Add the following sentence at the end of the paragraph:
The organization must determine whether any issues arise from climate change.
4.2
Add the following note at the end of the paragraph:
NOTE The interested parties concerned may have requirements relating to climate change.
ISO 14001 – Environmental management systems – Requirements and guidelines for use
AMENDMENT 1: Action on climate change
4.1
Add the following sentence at the end of the paragraph:
The organization must determine whether any issues arise from climate change.
4.2
Add the following note at the end of the paragraph:
NOTE The interested parties concerned may have requirements relating to climate change.
ISO 45001 – Occupational health and safety management systems – Requirements and guidelines for their use
AMENDMENT 1: Action on climate change
4.1
Add the following sentence at the end of the paragraph:
The organization must determine whether any issues arise from climate change.
4.2
Add the following note at the end of the paragraph:
NOTE The interested parties concerned may have requirements relating to climate change.
These amendments will impact articles: 4.2, 5.2.1, 6.1, 6.2
It should be noted that these amendments are specific and require the organization to determine whether climate change has an impact on the company’s issues, but do not require an analysis of these issues.
It should also be noted that this amendment concerns all “Type A MSS standards”, i.e. 31 standards.
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