Issue 124 – AMENDMENT 1: Climate Action Changes?
ISO 9001:2015…
AMENDMENT 1: Climate Action Changes?
I appreciate receiving emails with questions and/or comments from readers of this Newsletter… please continue to do so since it provides me with direction on where to aim the content of these publications. In my last Newsletter (ISO 9001:2015 Newsletter Issue 123) we discussed the topic of “Thinking of switching ISO Registrars/Certification Bodies?”, and now in this Newsletter we will discuss “AMENDMENT 1: Climate Action Changes?”.
The ISO 9001:2015 Element numbering…
Element 4 – Context of the organization
Element 5 – Leadership
Element 6 – Planning
Element 7 – Support
Element 8 – Operation
Element 9 – Performance evaluation
Element 10 – Improvement
Why was this change published now?… The reason this topic has come up is because the ISO organization, located in Geneva, decided in February/2024 to publish an Amendment to a number of ISO Standards such as ISO 9001, ISO 14001, ISO 45001, ISO 27001, etc. The first question that struck me was “why now?”… this very minor change could have easily waited until next year when a formal revision is expected to ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 since they will both be 10 years old at that point in time. Based on some internet research on this topic I concluded there was no logic on the timing of this Amendment… nor why it was applied to such a large number of ISO Standards when really ISO 14001 should be the primary place to handle the topic of “climate change”.
Why does Amendment #1 say?… Amendment #1 added the following sentence to the end of Clause 4.1 (Understanding the organization and its context): “The organization shall determine whether climate change is a relevant issue“… and also added a note to Clause 4.2 (Understanding the needs and expectations of interested parties) that states: “NOTE Relevant interested parties can have requirements related to climate change.” Yes, that’s it… that’s the big published change that was made. On a side note, I have always advised my Clients that any “NOTES” found within the ISO 9001 Standard (or any other ISO Standards for that matter) can be ignored since they are not “shall” requirements… you will never see the word “shall” in any “notes” anywhere… I’ll have more to say about the NOTE in this Amendment in the next section below.
What actions do you need to take to address Amendment #1?… Let me begin by reminding you that there are NO requirements to have anything “documented” to address Clause 4.1… nor Clause 4.2, and that’s always been the case… which means you can simply respond to these Clauses verbally with NO documentation needed as proof. This Amendment #1 doesn’t change that fact so essentially NO action is required on your part to handle the added sentence in Clause 4.1 and as I said earlier, the added NOTE within Clause 4.2 can be ignored.
If not doing anything makes you uncomfortable then there are two suggestions I can offer… First, you can add a sentence in your Quality Manual, at the end of Clause/Section 4.1 that says: “The organization has considered the impact of climate change and determined that it is not a relevant issue for our Quality Management System at this time“. In regards to the NOTE added to Clause 4.2, I would NOT insert any new wording into the Quality Manual (because that would indicate that you acknowledge the existence of NOTEs found within the ISO 9001 Standard… which you do not want to do). Rather, I would wait for the External Auditor to ask about this topic… the Auditor could ask whether you understand that Interested Parties might have requirements related to climate change… to which you can then answer that “yes” you considered this, and “no” they do not [period]… again no documented proof is required for Clause 4.2.
Be sure to watch for our next Newsletter issue where I will be answering some of the questions that I get from Readers of my Newsletters about how to implement the requirements of ISO 9001:2015 in a specific and practical way, that will also help improve business performance…
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ISO 9001:2015 Internal Audit Outsourcing (we can do it for you OR with you!)
For cost effectiveness, the Internal Audit function can be outsourced to an external experienced auditor on a periodic basis. This will provide an independent and objective assessment to management, of where process issues may exist, along with identifying opportunities for improvement. It will also provide the evidence needed to satisfy the Internal Audit requirements in the ISO Standards. We have used two different approaches with this service: a) We conduct the entire audit ourselves, or b) We act as the lead auditor, and along with your Team of internal auditors, we complete the entire audit together. This latter approach allows your people to receive guidance and direction from an experienced lead auditor while at the same time maintaining significant involvement in the internal audit process.
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Internal Process Auditor Training for ISO 9001:2015
The two (2) day Internal Process Auditing for ISO 9001:2015 Training Session is focused on a process approach to auditing with the objective being not only to assess conformance of the quality management system, but also to uncover process improvements during an audit. This goes hand in hand with the process auditing requirements found within ISO 19011 and the process approach covered in ISO 9001:2015, which promotes continual process improvement throughout this Standard. An enhanced checklist is developed, and there will be workshops throughout, to reinforce learning, as well as a live, practice audit. If you are looking to meet the ISO 9001:2015 internal audit requirements and to “raise the bar” for your internal audit program then this is the course you should consider.
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Until next time…
Tim Renaud
Helping Business Professionals Reduce Risk and Remove Waste!