ISO Standards have been Amended to cover climate change
This February, the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) released amendments to several ISO standards.
- ISO 9001
- ISO 14001
- ISO 45001
The amendments cover climate change. Section 4.1 of these three standards, the amendment requires the organization to determine whether climate change is a relevant issue impacting their management system. Also, a note has been added to section 4.2 stating that relevant interested parties may require requirements about climate change. Here are some FAQs:
Why these requirements were added?
Consistent with the London Declaration on Climate Change, ISO amended these standards to clarify the need for organizations to consider the impact. The amendment calls out this specific topic as having a potential impact.
What does this mean if you are already certified?
If organizations have considered environmental impacts, nothing is needed. If it is needed, they must consider whether climate change impacts their management system. There are a number of ways to address this.
What can Pillar Management do?
Diversified Management Systems can help review and suggest modifications to the QMS. We will thoroughly analyze all internal and external issues, along with the needs and expectations of relevant interested parties, as they relate to its management system and determine what needs to be addressed.
What is timing to transition and implement these requirements?
The requirements become effective and auditable immediately.
Will my auditor focus on this requirement at my next audit?
Your Certification Body may ask about this requirement since it is “new,” but it will not be given significant attention. It will be a topic of conversation along with any other external issues that may be impacting the management system. The amendment will be in new standards and upcoming revisions.
What if an organization decides that climate change isn’t a relevant issue?
That is acceptable as long as factual evidence supports that decision, just like any other external issue considered and deemed non-applicable.
We are not certified to ISO 14001, so how can this change impact our management system?
It may not impact the system at all. The requirement is to determine whether it applies or needs to be incorporated into your risk assessment and subsequent action plans. It may not be applicable for organizations, such as a service organization doing computer networking; for others, such as a delivery service or a paint operation, the organization’s environmental impacts must be considered because of the ecological interaction related to emissions.
Does this change impact other standards now?
Yes. Every Standard utilizes ISO 9001 and 25+ other standards where the climate change amendment was published. Other standards affected now include ISO 22000, ISO 27001, and ISO 50001.
Where can I read more about the London Declaration?
You can go to ISO.org using this link: https://www.iso.org/ClimateAction/LondonDeclaration.html.
I know little about climate change or how our organization could impact it. Where can I get more information?
You can go to ISO.org Climate Action Toolkit at this link, and you will find links on the right side of the page with helpful information: https://www.iso.org/ClimateAction.html.