Issue 129 – Why are auditors so excited about climate change?
ISO 9001:2015…
Why are auditors so excited about climate change?
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 128) we discussed the topic of “What are the requirements for Training and Competency?”, and now in this Newsletter we will discuss “Why are auditors so excited about climate change?”.
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 is climate change becoming a hot topic during audits?… One of my Clients recently got challenged by an external auditor regarding how they had documented “climate change” in their Quality Manual (and in their Management Review Meeting Minutes). I covered this same topic back in Newsletter #124 since I was getting questions about this abrupt and surprising “Amendment” that was suddenly introduced back in February/2024. What confused me was how enthusiastic the external auditor was about “climate change”… it was as if they finally had something NEW to talk about.
This reminds me of when the term “risk-based thinking” was first introduced and sprinkled nine (9) times throughout the Standard and how external auditors were beating their drums about this newly introduced concept… which has since turned out to be “all flash and no substance” since the group of authors in Geneva never gave it any teeth (i.e. there was not a single “shall” requirement to write down how to address “risk”).
Regarding the topic of “climate change”, let’s review… in February/2024, Amendment #1 added the following sentence to the end of Clause 4.1: “The organization shall determine whether climate change is a relevant issue“… and also added a note to Clause 4.2 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!
So how can you handle “climate change”?… As I had pointed out previously (see Newsletter #124) there are NO requirements to have anything “documented” to address Clause 4.1… nor in 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 you can respond verbally and NO documentation is required on your part to handle the added sentence in Clause 4.1… and as I said previously, the added NOTE within Clause 4.2 can be ignored since any “NOTES” found within the ISO 9001:2015 Standard do not contain any “shall” requirements… you will never see the word “shall” in any “NOTES” anywhere.
In order to figure out whether “climate change” has any impact on your Quality Management System (QMS) you need to look at this topic from a macro point of view… and then a micro one. MACRO climate change could: a) result in more hurricanes (extreme rain/flooding), extreme temperatures & prolonged droughts (fires), more tornadoes (extreme winds)… and all of these events need to be addressed if your business has physical facilities/infrastructure… AND b) could result in supply-chain disruptions inbound since you depend on a steady supply of raw materials, as well as outbound challenges in order to maintain delivery of your products in adverse conditions.
How have most organizations dealt with these macro situations? The vast majority have Emergency Response Procedures in place to protect their people and facilities in the event of an emergency… AND most have plans for alternative sourcing of raw materials in case of disruptions… as well as contingency plans if their outbound distribution system is compromised. So that’s your answer (verbal or written down) on how you will handle MACRO climate change.
With respect to MICRO climate change, you need to ask yourself the following question: “How do extreme changes in local weather conditions affect your ability to produce and deliver in-spec product? (i.e. extreme changes in temperature; large swings in humidity levels; exposures to higher wind speeds)… by the way, I expect the answer to this question will be “None… No impact” for most companies… and that will be your response (verbal or written down) on how you will handle MICRO climate change.
If you feel you must write something down, then consider adding this 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“.
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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Need Help?
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!