Getting certified to one or more ISO Management System Standards can be a confusing and overwhelming process, especially if this is a brand new concept for you. What exactly are the ISO Management System Standards, and why are they important for a business? Most importantly, how can a business actually get certified to an ISO Standard?

We get it, the whole ISO world sounds complex, and can seem a bit confronting. But let’s start from the beginning, and clarify all these big questions.

What is ISO?

The International Organisation of Standardisation (ISO) is an independent, global body, made up of an extensive network of individuals that specialise in different areas. ISO is a non-governmental organisation that forms a bridge between the public and private sectors. Initially founded in Geneva, Switzerland, its memberships now extend to more than 160 countries.

ISO develops standards to ensure the quality, safety, sustainability and efficacy of products, services and systems. As technology and new markets continue to rapidly develop, new ISO Standards are drafted and implemented by ISO members globally. This ensures that businesses of all size, type and nature can benefit from International Standards.

What are ISO Standards, and how are they developed?

Essentially, an ISO Standard is an internationally proven and recognised way for a business to run its operations aligned with a particular discipline and objective. But how are ISO Standards developed?

ISO Standards are only developed once there is an identified industry need for standardisation. Experts begin working to prepare a draft, including its scope, key definitions and content. The draft is then shared with all ISO National members for review, where the approval process begins in various stages. Once all ISO members are satisfied with the standard, it will be published and available for the public to use, and in some cases, for business to work towards its Certification to that Standard when applicable.

All ISO Standards are then reviewed approximately every five years by the relevant ISO member bodies. This could result in confirmation, revision (resulting in a new updated version published), or complete withdrawal of the standard.

What are the main ISO Management System Standards?

There are over 24,000 ISO Standards available, each one developed to address different aspects or challenges that affect organisations globally. The standards serve as a framework to manage a variety of technical topics and processes throughout a business and achieve set goals and industry requirements.

The most widely-adopted ISO Management System Standards are:

ISO 9001:2015, ISO 45001:2018, ISO 14001:2015 and ISO 27001:2013.

Let’s briefly have a look at each of these standards:

Business needs – Which ISO Standard is recommended?

It can be challenging to know exactly which ISO Management System Standard a business needs, as not all businesses will require the same ISO Standards.

Some businesses will need to be certified as part of contractual or regulatory requirements. This could be imposed by a client, a regulatory body, or for a government tender. In these cases, it’s easy to know which standards a business needs certification to – simply confirm with the appropriate interested party (it could be provided on a document from the requesting party, listing the standards).

If a business needs certification for any other reason, such as business improvement in particular areas, it will then be a different process. The business will need to analyse each standard, and figure out the most suitable and beneficial one for their particular industry to meet the desired objectives. Reading and understanding the actual standards you are interested in will help you understand more to make such a decision.

How can ISO Standards actually help a business?

Not only will the implementation of an ISO Management System Standard benefit a business, but the actual Certification itself will also provide businesses with a number of benefits, including:

How to become Certified to one or more ISO Standards

Once a business decides which ISO Management System Standards to go with, the journey to achieving certification begins.

The entire Certification process can be summarised as follows:

The business will need to define the standards required, and then purchase a copy of the chosen ISO Standards (this is an actual licensed document developed by ISO that you purchase, which contains all the requirements).

If the business already has a variety of things in place that could be used for meeting the requirements (such as established processes and policies), a gap analysis could be performed. This will determine what still needs to be done, to then plan the next steps.

The business will then need to develop all documentation required to meet the requirements of the chosen ISO Standard(s). This documentation is what the Standards refer to as a Management System, and could include business processes, policies, and software or templates to capture records, etc.

Once the documentation is developed, reviewed and published (live and ready for use), the next step is implementation.

Implementing the Management System means actually putting the system into practice. This involves coaching the team on how to use it, following the new processes, populating forms, saving records, and making sure it’s fully embedded in the day-to-day business activities.

Once the system is implemented, the business will need to conduct an Internal Audit and a Management Review, to define the strategy moving forward for the monitoring of the effectiveness of its Management System.

Internal Audits are a requirement of the main ISO Management System Standards. An Internal Audit is a full review of the management system to ensure that it has met all of the ISO Standard requirements, as well as the organisation’s own requirements, before going for certification. The ISO Standards require that an auditor has to be deemed competent to conduct these internal audits. Therefore, if a business does not engage an external auditor, and decides to use its internal resources (employees) to conduct these Internal Audits, they have to make sure these people are trained and qualified to do so.

Our Management Systems Internal Auditor training is a practical eLearning course that teaches how to conduct effective Internal Audits in accordance with the core ISO Management System Standards. In addition to a Certificate of Completion, included in the course is also a competency assessment (and Verification of Competency Certificate) that will demonstrate that your are qualified to conduct internal audits.

When the business is ready for certification, they will need to be audited by an Accredited Conformity Assessment Body (CAB) – also known as Certification Body. A CAB is an organisation that is accredited to conduct audits of businesses’ Management Systems and issue internationally recognised Certifications to the ISO Standards.

The Certification Audits are split into two stages:

If all business activities prove to conform according to the requirements, the CAB will issue the Certification(s) to the audited business.

Note: The Certification Audit is also commonly referred to as a Third Party Audit.

After the business has achieved Certification(s), the 3-year certification cycle begins. During this period, the Certification Body will return to conduct yearly Surveillance Audits to verify that the Business Management System is still meeting the ISO Standard(s) requirements, as well as their own operational requirements.

Note: The business is also required to conduct Internal Audits each year. With our Internal Auditor training, your team can become qualified to conduct these.

Download a summary of the entire Certification process below!

Get your FREE Certification Process Diagram today!

Now that you know what it means to be certified to an ISO Management System Standard, it’s time to decide what your next step is and your role in this journey. Are you assisting a business in achieving certification? Is it for your own business?

The post What Exactly is Certification to ISO Standards? appeared first on ICExperts Academy.

The United Nations Global Compact estimates that 2.78 million workers die from occupational accidents or work-related diseases each year, while another 374 million workers suffer from non-fatal occupational accidents. To put this into perspective, there are more than 7,600 fatalities occurring from dangerous working conditions every single day!

These figures are very concerning, especially considering these deaths could have, and should have, been prevented. This is where ISO 45001:2018, the international Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) Standard, also known as Work Health and Safety (WHS), is able to support organisations with a Management System framework that provides a risk and opportunity based approach to preventing harm to workers.

Although it’s a relatively new standard, ISO 45001:2018 supersedes OHSAS 18001 and AS/NZS 4801 and builds further on the crucial framework these previous standards introduced, to ensure all workers have a safe and healthy workplace. It promotes consultation for transparency and building trust throughout an organisation’s operations and supply chain. Implementing and achieving certification to the OHS Management System Standard reflects the organisation’s commitment to their employees health, safety and wellbeing. It also demonstrates their efforts of continually working towards creating a better, safer workplace.

Continue reading to learn more about ISO 45001:2018, and its requirements and benefits.

What is ISO 45001:2018?

The ISO 45001:2018 Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) Standard provides a framework for managing and preventing work-related injury and illness by identifying risks and opportunities to eliminate hazards and minimise risks (including system deficiencies). The standard assists organisations of any size, type, or industry in taking effective preventative actions to promote a safe and healthy workplace, while also effectively addressing legal and ethical concerns.

The hazards and risks which align with poor working conditions may be a result of a multitude of factors: governance gaps, failure to comply with the law, insufficient resources, scarce knowledge, unsustainable business practices, and the lack of a culture of prevention, just to name a few. Effective implementation of the ISO 45001:2018 Standard should provide a systematic approach to enable organisations to address and manage these OHS risks.

The Safety Management Standard approach emphasises the responsibilities of those in positions of authority, and highlights how all stakeholders in the organisation should participate, to ensure effectiveness. The intended outcomes of an OHS Management System include:

Other ISO OHS Standards

Unlike the other core ISO Management System Standards, the ISO 45001 Standard doesn’t yet have a comprehensive “ISO 45000 Family of standards”. ISO 45001:2018 was the only standard for this topic until recently, when an additional two standards were released to complement an organisation’s safety management:

A business will not be able to get certified to either one of these two new standards, as they are guidelines only.

As at the time of publishing this blog, the following additional guidelines standards are also under development:

What are the benefits of ISO 45001:2018?

All stakeholders benefit from a safer and healthier workplace, from employees to managers, business owners and external suppliers. Consequently, the benefits of successfully implementing ISO 45001:2018 and achieving Certification to this standard, will positively influence many areas of the organisation, such as:

What are the ISO 45001 requirements?

ISO 45001:2018 is structured similarly to other core management system standards, such as ISO 9001:2015 and ISO 27001:2013. This facilitates one integrated management system for an organisation, that can meet the requirements of multiple management system standards.

The Occupational Health and Safety Management Systems Standard is comprised of 10 clauses, which are as follows:

Clause 4: Context of the Organisation – The organisation will determine all external and internal parties, as well as issues that can impact the intended outcomes of its OHS Management System. This includes understanding the needs and expectations of employees and other stakeholders, and determining the scope of the OHS Management System.

Clause 5: Leadership and worker participation – The standard requires top management to be responsible and accountable for preventing work-related injury and ill-health. Top management must demonstrate leadership and commitment concerning the OHS Management System, and promote consultation with and participation of workers through clear communication, and allocating appropriate resources to support the safety culture.

Clause 6: Planning – This clause outlines actions to address risks and opportunities. It requires that the organisation keeps documentation about their OHS objectives and determines what will be done. Organisations should also demonstrate project timelines, roles and responsibilities, as well as how they will measure results. The plan must take into consideration the identified issues and hazards, in addition to regulatory requirements.

Clause 7: Support – The organisation should determine and provide the resources needed for establishing, implementing, maintaining and continually improving the OHS Management System. This includes human, infrastructure, and financial support, ensuring employees know all relevant information required to meet the ISO OHS standard’s requirements.

Clause 8: Operation – The business shall plan, implement, control and maintain the processes needed to meet the requirements of the OHS Management System. This includes any temporary or permanent changes that could impact the OHS performance, the procurement of products, services and contractors, and the establishment of a process for emergency readiness and response​​.

Clause 9: Performance Evaluation – There must be a process for monitoring, measurement, analysis and performance evaluation of the OHS Management System. Internal audits and top management reviews are required to ensure the Management System’s ongoing improvement, adequacy and effectiveness.

Clause 10: Improvement – The organisation should be committed to continually improving its management system, take a proactive approach when seeking new OHS opportunities, and implementing the necessary measures to address any incidents and nonconformities that may occur.

Where to start with implementing the requirements of the ISO 45001:2018 Standard?

ISO 45001:2018 provides a robust framework for managing OHS risks and opportunities. Interpreting the requirements and matching them with the businesses needs and resources can be overwhelming. Getting assistance from a professional ISO Management System Consultant is often the best way to implement the requirements of and achieve certification to a Management System Standard. The consultant can help you to integrate the requirements of one or more ISO Management System Standards into your existing business systems and operational processes.

Regardless if an organisation decides to implement the requirements of the ISO 45001:2018 Standard by itself, or outsource it to a professional consultant, it’s recommended that the organisation has a licensed copy of the standard document. This is so everyone involved in the project is familiar with the requirements. In addition, external auditors from the Conformity Assessment Body may ask if you have it as a reference, as it is important to be aware of the requirements in order to effectively implement them.

The cost and timeframe to implement an OHS Management System will vary depending on the size of the organisation, the complexity of its operations, and the systems that are currently in place. Once the requirements of the standard are successfully implemented, the business can go for the Certification Audits with an Accredited Conformity Assessment Body to achieve its ISO 45001:2018 Certification (read more about the certification process here).

It’s also important to consider that conducting internal audits of the Management System is a requirement to achieve and maintain certification to an ISO Management System Standard. As a business owner or manager, you can benefit from qualifying your team to conduct these audits.

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