ISO and Climate Change

Are you up to date with the latest amendment to the ISO 9001, ISO 14001, and ISO 45001 standards?

On the 23rd of February 2024, the International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) and International Accreditation Forum (IAF) announced an amendment to existing ISO standards to ensure that organisations consider the risks related to climate change within their management systems. ?

What was the amendment?

4.1 Understanding the organisation and its context

The organisation shall determine external and internal issues that are relevant to its purpose and that affect its ability to achieve the intended result(s) of its management system.

The organisation shall determine whether climate change is a relevant issue.

4.2 Understanding the needs and expectations of interested parties

The organisation shall determine interested parties and the associated requirements relevant to the management system.

NOTE: Relevant interested parties can have requirements related to climate change.

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Unlike when standards are revised, there is no transition period for organisations to adopt the Climate Change Amendment to the standards, and as such, external auditors will be assessing the amendments at your next surveillance or recertification audit.

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What does this mean for your business?

Effectively, you will need to consider the impact business operations have on climate change AND the impact climate change can have on business operations.

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This means considering risks related to climate change itself, which include, for example:

• Risks associated with climate change such as extreme weather disrupting supply chains, operations, and/or increasing hazards for workers.
• Changes in statutory or regulatory requirements and/ or industry codes and standards.
• Actions associated with climate mitigation such as market trends on sustainability or carbon neutrality of products and services and/or installation of on-site sustainable processes and equipment.

Please contact us if you would like a consultation on the implications and implementation of the Climate Change Amendments to support the continual improvement of your management system.