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Structure of standard
Perhaps the biggest difference between the old and the new standard
is the structure. This is because the new edition uses the new Annex SL
template. According to ISO, all future management system standards
(MSSs) will use this new layout and share the same basic requirements.
As a result, all new MSSs will have the same look and feel.
A common structure is possible because basic concepts such as
management, requirements, policy, planning, performance, objective,
process, control, monitoring, measurement, auditing, decision making,
corrective action, and nonconformity are common to all management
system standards. A common structure should make it easier for
organizations to implement multiple standards because they will all
share the same basic language and the same basic requirements.
study these needs and expectations and to figure out which ones
have become compliance obligations.
But why is all this necessary? It's necessary because your EMS
will need to be able to manage all of these influences. Once you
understand your context, you're expected to use this knowledge
to help you define your EMS and the challenges it must deal with.
Risk planning
Unlike the old standard, the new ISO 14001 standard expects
you to determine risks and opportunities. So what does this
mean and what does the new standard expect you to do?
It expects you to start by establishing a risk planning process. It then
expects you to use this process to identify risks and opportunities
related to your organizations unique context , its interested parties, its
compliance obligations, and its environmental aspects. It then expects
you to define actions to address all of these risks and opportunities.
And to make sure that these actions will actually be carried out, it asks
you to make these actions an integral part of your EMS processes, and
then to implement, control, evaluate, and review the effectiveness of
these actions and these processes.
While risk planning is now an integral part of the new ISO 14001
standard, it does not actually expect you to implement a formal
risk management process.
Preventive action
The new ISO 14001 standard no longer uses the term preventive action.
Were now expected to use risk planning concepts and to think of the
entire EMS as a system of preventive action. ISO 14001 2015 section
A.10.1 says there is no longer a single clause on preventive action
Documented information
The new ISO 14001 2015 standard has also eliminated the long
standing distinction between documents and records. Now they're
both referred to as documented information . Why ISO chose to
abandon two common sense concepts and replace them with one
that is needlessly awkward and esoteric is not entirely clear.
According to ISO's definition, the term documented information
refers to information that must be controlled and maintained. So,
whenever ISO 14001 2015 uses the term documented information it
implicitly expects you to control and maintain that information and
its supporting medium. However, this isn't the whole story.
An annex to the new ISO 14001 2015 standard (A.3) further says that
this international standard now uses the phrase 'retain documented
information as evidence of' to mean records, and 'maintain documented
information' to mean documentation other than records.
So, whenever the new ISO 14001 standard refers to documented
information and it asks you to maintain this information, it is talking
about what used to be referred to as documents, and whenever it asks
you to retain this information, it is talking about what used to be called
records. So sometimes documented information must be maintained
and sometimes it must be retained (contrary to what ISO's official
definition says).
So, while the official definition of the term documented information
abandons the distinction between documents and records, through
the use of the words "maintain" and "retain" and because of what this
means (according to Annex A), the main body of the standard actually
restores this distinction. In other words, while documents and records
were officially kicked out the front door, they were actually allowed
back in through the back door.
Procedures
The old ISO 14001 standard asked organizations to establish
a wide range of procedures. These included an environmental
aspects procedure, a legal requirements management procedure,
an awareness procedure, a communications procedure, a documents
procedure, an operational procedure, an emergency preparedness
and response procedure, a monitoring and measurement procedure,
a compliance evaluation procedure, a nonconformity management
procedure, a record keeping procedure, and an audit procedure.
Now, only one procedure is left. The new ISO 14001 2015 standard
asks you to establish an emergency preparedness and response
procedure in section 8.2, and that's the only one.
Instead of asking you to write procedures, the new standard
expects you to maintain and control a wide range of documents
(i.e., documented information). Since the new standard doesn't tell
you what to call these documents, you can call them procedures
if you like. And, of course, you still need to have documents except
that now they're called documented information. So, while on
the surface this looks like a radical change, it probably isn't.
Both old and new standards cover essentially the same topics.
However, there are some important differences. Some of these
Documented information
The new ISO 9001 2015 standard has also eliminated the long
standing distinction between documents and records. Now they
are both referred to as documented information. Why ISO chose
to abandon two common sense concepts and replace them with
one that is needlessly awkward and esoteric is not entirely clear.
According to ISO's definition, the term documented information
refers to information that must be controlled and maintained. So,
whenever ISO 9001 2015 uses the term documented information
it implicitly expects you to control and maintain that information
and its supporting medium. However, this isn't the whole story.
An annex to the new standard (A.6) further says that "Where
ISO 9001:2008 would have referred to documented procedures ...
this is now expressed as a requirement to maintain documented
information, and "Where ISO 9001:2008 would have referred to
records this is now expressed as a requirement to retain
documented information".
So, whenever the new standard refers to documented information
and it asks you to maintain this information, it's talking about what
used to be referred to as procedures, and whenever it asks you to
retain this information, it's talking about what used to be called
records. So sometimes it must be maintained and sometimes it
must be retained (contrary to what the official definition says).
So, while the definition of the term "documented information"
abandons the distinction between documents (or documented
Risk-based thinking
According to the new standard, risk-based thinking has always
been implicit in ISO 9001. According to this perspective, ISO 9001
has always been about anticipating and preventing mistakes, which
is what risk-based thinking is all about. That's why we train people,
why we plan our work, why we assign roles and responsibilities, why
we validate and verify results, why we audit and review activities, and
why we monitor, measure, and control processes. We do these things
because we want to prevent mistakes. We do them because we're
trying to manage risk. So, if we think of risk-based thinking in this
way, it's always been an inherent part of ISO 9001. Before it was
implicit; now it's explicit.
So what kind of thinking is risk-based thinking and how is it applied?
What does the new standard expect organizations to do? The new
standard expects organizations to identify and address the risks
that could influence their ability to provide compliant products and
services and to satisfy customers. It also expects them to identify
and address the opportunities that could enhance their ability to
provide compliant products and services and to satisfy customers.
The new ISO standard also expects organizations to identify the
risks and opportunities that could influence the performance
of their quality management systems or disrupt their operation
and then it expects them to define actions to address these risks
and opportunities. It then further expects them to figure out how
they're going to make these actions part of their QMS processes
and how they're going to implement, control, evaluate, and review
the effectiveness of these actions and these processes.