"To Each EHS Own.." ...but is an Integrated System right for you?
Let me start off with a few key questions...?
???Does your line of work lead you to consider the?quality of your outputs? ??
???Have you considered?how the environment impacts your work?or?how you affect the environment,?through your work? ??
???Do you find yourself looking for a system that can help you?manage the relationship between your business processes and Occupational Health and Safety? ??
???Have you sought out a way to?manage the risks at your work place?- and a way to?thrive from opportunities?that your work encounters? ??
???Has your organisation?adopted an ISO Management System Standard?to manage any of the above scenarios? ??
????Did you answer yes?to two or more of my questions above? ??
???Have you considered or have you already set up an?integrated management system? ???
_______________________________________________________
What is an integrated management system?
Putting it very plainly, an integrated management system (IMS) combines various management systems into a single, overall comprehensive, and harmonised management system.?(e.g. quality, environmental, occupational health and safety, information security, risk management).
An example of an IMS is one that simultaneously handles the requirements of ISO 9001, the quality management system standard, and ISO 14001, the environmental management system standard.?
_______________________________________________________
What are the benefits of having an IMS?
An IMS can bring many benefits to your organisation, such as?lower certification costs, fewer interruptions to business processes, reduced documentation, streamlined processes, and more consistent objectives across multiple systems.
The work to address an additional standard is also considered minimal when compared to addressing each standard on a stand-alone basis...
There is however a method to follow, to ensure that the integration goes smoothly.
Tony Cunningham?recently shared his thoughts about Integrated Systems...
ISO requires that standard writers use a single framework when writing ISO Management System Standards (MSS).
This framework means that the user of the MSS benefits from being able to address commonalities?once?in an IMS, instead of once for each standard.
My experience gained from developing and implementing integrated systems shows that they can provide, through synergy, a greater-than-expected benefit. The integrated system offers a value proposition that is greater than the aggregate of its parts.
This is typically achieved when developing management arrangements in response to multiple standards. When doing so it is necessary to apply the most stringent requirement from each of those being considered. The developed system benefits from the requirements of one standard that don’t appear in another, but when addressed simultaneously, make for a more robust approach.
The following example compares the requirements of clause 4.1 of ISO 9001 and ISO 45001.
The subtlety introduced by adopting the rule of stringency will assure the integrated system is aligned with the business strategy. The OH&S parts of the system benefit from a potential disconnect if introducing the ISO 45001 standard alone.
Whilst there are many similarities intentionally designed into the MSS, the requirements are vastly dissimilar when addressing clause 8, Operation.
It is within the requirements of this clause that the ability to address commonality simply does not work to achieve integration. The requirements of this clause are strongly influenced by the subject of the particular MSS. e.g. quality or environment, etc.
Clause 4 of all MSS subtly alludes to the method to address this area for integration.
ISO 45001:2018, clause 4.4 states that?“The organization shall establish, implement, maintain and continually improve an OH&S management system, including the?processes needed and their interactions, in accordance with the requirements of this document”.
Some management system standards share some of the quality principles used in ISO 9001. One of which, for ISO 45001, is the?Process Approach to Management. The authors of the ISO 9000 series make the following statement:
“Consistent and predictable results are achieved more effectively and efficiently when activities are understood and managed as interrelated processes that function as a coherent system”.
The rationale offered is: “The Quality Management System consists of interrelated processes. Understanding how results are produced by this system enables an organization to optimize the system and its performance”.
By using this principle to develop an integrated management system, the organisation is able to focus on the process and introduce the differing requirements from each standard as conditions of work within the process.
The following diagram demonstrates how the differing requirements from each standard may be applied to the process and described as collective conditions of work in a related procedure.
领英推荐
The benefit of this approach is realised by the Process Participant, in that they need not have specialised knowledge of any of the standards, only the conditions of work for their specific process, in order to demonstrate conformance.
The methodology allows for an integrated management system to adhere to any number of standards, as well as other requirements, such as legislation or adopted policies.
The decision to be addressed by top management is, which standards to adopt when developing their integrated management system. Current practice typically finds most integrated systems address the topics of quality, environment, safety and health. The related standards are ISO 9001, ISO 14001 and ISO 45001 respectively.
Ultimately, the decision should come down to two considered points, namely, what topics represent the highest business risk, and what standards customers need the organisation to demonstrate conformance to.
Each MSS requires, in clause 6, planning of the management system. The expectation is that preventive actions are taken to plan the management arrangements comprising the management system. In the language of the standard;?“actions to address risk and opportunity”, in the language of business; how best to protect against loss whilst simultaneously seeking value.
ISO 9001 prevents service or product quality-related risk, ISO 14001 reduces or prevents adverse environmental impacts and the associated business risk, and ISO 45001 reduces or prevents exposure to occupational hazards to human health or safety and the associated business risk.
In conclusion, the benefit of integrated management systems include:
--Increased business efficiency by achieving the desired requirement of each standard without unnecessary duplication;
--Improved response to requirements due to information being presented to process participants in an assimilated format;
--Lower cost of ownership through:?
_______________________________________________________
"To each EHS own" - but an IMS is not for everyone!
Not every organisation will benefit from adopting an IMS. An organisation should only integrate their management systems when there is a clear business benefit - not just for the sake of integration.
Reach out to the team if you're looking for further guidance on whether or not your organisation would benefit from integrating your management system.
_______________________________________________________
REMINDER
Don't forget to secure your choice of our current promos, by reaching out to the team:
???6%-off for Early Bird Bookings for 2023 +?BONUS 2%-off?for existing clients?
???Training Packages for Public Training in 2022 / 2023 (NOT incl. in 2023 Book + Pay)
???Awareness Training for Middle and Top Management?(December 2022, January + February 2023)
???Pre-Certification audits & Internal Audits?(October, November, and December 2022)
???Internal Audits – A Practical Approach?(October, November and December 2022)
Learn more about these unique offers by clicking the link below!
_______________________________________________________
Get in touch with us directly
Our working hours are 08h00 - 16h30 (GMT+2) Monday - Friday.
Contact?Risk ZA Group?on +27 (0) 31 569 5900 or [email protected]
_______________________________________________________
Do you want to receive our official newsletter and additional bits and pieces that aren't shared here??Subscribe to our Newsletter here