ISO 9001:2015 QMS Standard And Climate Change - 02
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Determining Issues
and Determining If Climate Change Is A Relevant Issue For The Organization
Clause 4.1 of
ISO 9001:2015 QMS standard deals with the requirements of understanding the
organization and its context that requires organization to determine internal
and external issues, positive and negative factors or conditions, relevant to
the organization’s purpose, strategic direction and that can affect organizational
ability to achieve intended results. With the amendment (dated 24 February
2024) in the standard, now the organization needs also to specifically require to
determine if climate change is a relevant issue for the organization. The organization
needs to monitor and review such information (data) on the determined external
and internal issues, and climate change impact.
There are many
issues that can help or make easier the understanding the external context of
the organization. Such issues may arise from legal, technological, competitive,
cultural, social, economic and climatic environments and that can be global, national,
regional or local.
There are many
issues that can help or make easier the understanding the internal context of
the organization. Such issues may relate to the organization’s values, culture,
knowledge and performance.
ISO 9001:2015
QMS standard does not provide direction on the method to determine such issues and
if climate change is a relevant issue for the organization. It is for the
organization to apply its own suitable method. One such method to determine,
monitor and review the internal and external issues, and determining if climate
change is a relevant issue for the organization, may consist of following steps:
(i)
The top
management of the organization should constitute a team of identified person,
who are well versed with the organization and its processes, and also with the
climate change impacts.
(ii)
The
team members should think individually as well as collectively and identify if climate
change is a relevant issue for the organization. The team should also identify positive
and negative factors and conditions that are relevant and that can affect achievement
of organization’s goals and objectives.
(iii)
All
such issues should be summed up. As such, the team should make a list of all
such issues with necessary details.
(iv)
The top
management should also assign responsibility to monitor and review such issues
to the team, so that the team monitor and review identified issues from time to
time and take effective decision for improvement of the organization’s quality
management system. It is better to define the scope of monitoring and reviewing
process, including the issues that will be tracked, the frequency of reviews,
and the objectives of the process, the method of data collection, analysis and
interpretation of data and reporting of findings.
(v)
The team
should identify the sources of information that will be used to monitor and
review the external and internal issues, and to determine if climate change is
a relevant requirement for the organization. These sources can include customer
feedback, employee surveys, industry reports, market analysis, and other
relevant sources of information.
(vi)
All outcomes
should be summed up and necessary decision be taken for improvement.
(vii)
Take
action – Based on the findings of monitoring and reviewing of organization’s issues
and processes, the organization should take action to address any issues or
trends that could impact the organization’s ability to achieve the organization’s
objectives. This could include changes to policies, procedures or processes, as
well as additional training or resources for employees.
(viii)
Continually
improve – Finally, the organization should continually improve its monitoring and
reviewing processes, incorporating feedback and making adjustments to the plan
as needed to ensure it remain effective and relevant over time.
There are a few
relevant points on which team members should take its attention. Relevant sources
of information may include scientific reports, industry trends, customer
feedback, stakeholder expectations, and organizational performance. The team
members may use appropriate tools and methods, such as SWOT analysis, PESTLE
(Political, Economic, Sociological, Technological, Legal, and Environmental)
analysis, scenario planning, and risk matrix. A better approach for the team
members would be to use a structured and participatory process, such as
brainstorming, surveying, interviewing, or focus group discussion, to collect
and analyse data and information from various sources. The team should evaluate
organization’s greenhouse gas emissions and energy consumption. The team should
review relevant regulations and stakeholders’ expectations.
By following the
above steps, an organization can effectively determine, monitor and review both
external and internal issues, and take proactive steps to address any factors
that could impact organization’s ability to achieve organization’s objectives.
CLICK HERE for
the previous article on this subject.
Best wishes,
Keshav Ram
Singhal
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