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IMS Certification

IMS

Integrated Management System

Standard Overview

An Integrated Management System (IMS) integrates all of an organization’s systems and processes into one complete framework, enabling an organization to work as a single unit with unified objectives.

Organizations often focus on management systems individually, often in silos and sometimes even in conflict.

A quality team is concerned with the QMS, often an EHS manager handles both Environmental and Health and Safety issues, or a SHEQ Manager handles Safety, Health, Environment and Quality, etc.

Ideally, your organization would have an IMS that addresses all your objectives at once.

However, it can be difficult to meet the needs of the various management systems operating within a single business.

Integrated Standards has created a way to integrate multiple relevant systems into any organization, regardless of their market. Integrating several management systems into a unified system (who share documentation, policies, procedures, and processes) makes sense.

An ideal candidate will have been using one or more management systems and are contemplating the introduction of other systems into the mix.

Certification Benefits

  • IMPLEMENT A RANGE OF QHSE AND ENTERPRISE
  • GAIN A HOLISTIC VIEW of the risks facing your company and the effectiveness of your actions to manage them
  • REDUCE THE COST OF AUDITS, thanks to fewer auditor man days and efficient use of internal teams’ time
  • INCLUDE HEALTH & SAFETY MANAGEMENT FOR THE FIRST TIME in your integrated program

GAIN GLOBALLY-RECOGNIZED ACCREDITED CERTIFICATION by USQC

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ISO 9001:2015

Standard Overview

ISO 9001 is defined as the international standard that specifies requirements for a quality management system (QMS). Organizations use the standard to demonstrate the ability to consistently provide products and services that meet customer and regulatory requirements. It is the most popular standard in the ISO 9000 series and the only standard in the series to which organizations can certify.

ISO 9001 was first published in 1987 by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), an international agency composed of the national standards bodies of more than 160 countries. The current version of ISO 9001 was released in September 2015.

ISO 9001:2015 applies to any organization, regardless of size or industry. More than one million organizations from more than 160 countries have applied the ISO 9001 standard requirements to their quality management systems.

Organizations of all types and sizes find that using the ISO 9001 standard helps them:

  • Organize processes.
  • Improve the efficiency of processes.
  • Continually improve.

All organizations that use ISO 9001 are encouraged to transition to ISO 9001:2015 as soon as possible. This includes not only organizations that are certified to ISO 9001:2008, but also any organizations involved in training or certifying others.

Certification Benefits

ISO 9001 helps organizations ensure their customers consistently receive high quality products and services, which in turn brings many benefits, including satisfied customers, management, and employees.

Because ISO 9001 specifies the requirements for an effective quality management system, organizations find that using the standard helps them:

  • Customer satisfaction – To satisfy a customer’s needs, the company must first identify their market and its needs. By having insight regarding the needs of their market, companies are able to continuously deliver products and services that fulfill the needs of their market.
  • Integration of internal policies and procedures– Collating all Quality Managements Systems (QMS) documents and having is certified as compliant by ISO aims to streamline the company’s processes and procedures.
  • Improved company image and reputation– getting or even attempting to get ISO 9001:2015 certification is no easy feat. As mentioned earlier, having this certification puts a company in the ranks of other companies from around the world that follow the same quality standards.
  • Company culture that is aimed towards continuous improvement– a company that complies with the ISO 9001:2015 have procedures that aim to improved products and services; it also aims to promote the professional development of its employees and the company culture.
  • Opportunities for partnerships– because getting ISO-certified impels that they meet international standards of practice, there are certain companies that make ISO certification as a requirement to become an accredited supplier in their organization.
  • Customer Focus – the goal of any business is to satisfy the customer and keep them happy. All steps in the process of improvement should be made with this goal in mind. As a business implements ISO 9001, every decision will be made with the customer and their satisfaction in mind.
  • Process Approach - The premise behind emphasizing the process that is used is that a process can be controlled and repeated, while results are largely a result of the process. By focusing on a process that is proven to produce the desired results, you can increase the rate at which you achieve these results.

 

In Nevada, the Clark County School District used ISO 9001 to save $174 million over 10 years in actual expenditures and cost avoidance. More than 3,000 employees were trained to the standard, enabling three critical components of the system’s success: training, communication and respect, and efficiency.

Certification Requirements

The ISO 9001 standard requires your organization address seven key areas - also known as clauses - in order to achieve continual improvement within your Quality Management System:

  1. Context of the organization
  2. Leadership
  3. Planning
  4. Support
  5. Operation
  6. Performance evaluation
  7. Improvement

Supported by the quality management principles these requirements help your business to successfully implement an effective Quality Management System.

Context of the Organization

Clause 4 of the ISO 9001:2015 Standard is where you set out the purpose and strategic direction of your business in terms of quality. It covers the following points:

  • Determining the factors, both internal and external to your business, that affect the quality of your services
  • Identifying the stakeholders in your business such as staff, suppliers, and other interested parties
  • Understanding your customers and their needs

Leadership

The ISO 9001 standard recognizes that an effective Quality Management System depends on the commitment of your organization’s senior management. It therefore requires, through clause 5, that your leadership team take responsibility for:

  • Creating the Quality Management System
  • Establishing the quality policies and objectives
  • Communicating these policies and objectives to employees responsible for the quality of the company’s products and services
  • Managing the annual reviews.

Planning

An effective Quality Management System is one that operates on risk-based thinking, putting in place measures to address both risks and opportunities alike. As part of clause 6 therefore, companies must:

  • Document potential risks including their severity and chance of occurrence
  • Plan to prevent or reduce undesired effects
  • Integrate plans to enhance desirable effects

Support

The ISO 9001 standard requires, through clause 7, that your organization provides adequate resources to operate an effective Quality Management System. This includes providing resources for:

  • Robust infrastructure
  • Efficient working environments
  • Effective HR Management

Operation

The Operation section within ISO 9001:2015, also known as clause 8, describes the work your company must do to develop and deliver goods or services to your customers.

Your processes will set out:

  • The requirements and quality objectives of your products or services
  • The process guides, documents and resources your employees need to create products or services successfully
  • The monitoring, inspection or testing your company needs to ensure the quality of your products or services
  • The rules governing the creation and storage of your records.

Performance evaluation

Clause 9 of the ISO 9001:2015 standard requires your organization to measure and analyze your processes, recording the results in order to:

  • Demonstrate it conforms to the requirements of the ISO 9001 standard
  • Ensure it applies all aspects of its Quality Management System
  • Support continual improvement in quality management across the organization.

Improvement

The final clause in the ISO 9001:2015 standard stresses the importance of continual improvement within a business.

Measures should be put in place to:

  • Improve services and products for the betterment of the business
  • Better match customer needs and therefore improve customer satisfaction
  • Identify instances of processes not achieving their goals and update them accordingly

ISO 14001:2015

Standard Overview

ISO 14001 is the international standard that specifies requirements for an effective environmental management system (EMS). It provides a framework that an organization can follow, rather than establishing environmental performance requirements.

Part of the ISO 14000 family of standards on environmental management, ISO 14001 is a voluntary standard that organizations can certify to. Integrating it with other management systems standards, most commonly ISO 9001, can further assist in accomplishing organizational goals.

The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) defines an environmental management system as “part of the management system used to manage environmental aspects, fulfill compliance obligations, and address risks and opportunities.” The framework in the ISO 14001 standard can be used within a plan-do-check-act (PDCA) approach to continuous improvement.

ISO 14001:2015 should be used by any organization that wishes to set up, improve, or maintain an environmental management system to conform with its established environmental policy and requirements. The requirements of the standard can be incorporated into any environmental management system, the extent to which is determined by several factors including the organization’s industry, environmental policy, products and service offerings, and location.

ISO 14001:2015 is relevant to all organizations, regardless of size, location, sector, or industry.

At the highest level, ISO 14001:2015 covers the following topics with regard to environmental management systems:

  • Context of the organization
  • Leadership
  • Planning
  • Support
  • Operation
  • Performance evaluation
  • Improvement

Certification Benefits

Using ISO 14001:2015 has many benefits for organizations with environmental management systems. Organizations and companies find that using the standard helps them:

  • Improve resource efficiency.
  • Reduce waste.
  • Drive down costs.
  • Provide assurance that environmental impact is being measured.
  • Gain competitive advantage in supply chain design.
  • Increase new business opportunities.
  • Meet legal obligations.
  • Increase stakeholder and customer trust.
  • Improve overall environmental impact.
  • Manage environmental obligations with consistency.

Certification Requirements

Within the standard there are numerous elements of ISO 14001 that are required to be met by organizations seeking formal recognition for their EMS. General requirements include:

  1. Development of an environmental policythat reflects an organization’s commitments.
  2. The appointment of a person(s) responsible for the EMS's coordination.
  3. Identification of how the organization interacts with the environment.
  4. Identification of actual and potential environmental impacts.
  5. Identification of environmental compliance
  6. Establishment of environmental objectives, targets, and programs.
  7. Monitoring and measurement of the progress to achieve its objectives.
  8. Reviewing the system and environmental performance.
  9. Continuous improvement of the organization’s environmental performance.

ISO 45001:2018

Standard Overview

ISO 45001 is the internationally recognised Occupational Health & Safety (OH&S) Management System Standard. It was introduced in March 2018 to replace, and expand upon, the guidelines in the OHSAS 18001 Standard.

The Standard sets out the requirements for an organisation wishing to ensure a safe and healthy workplace, and to prevent work-related accidents and ill-health. It also includes mechanisms that will enable an organisation to meet its Health & Safety obligations.

An ISO 45001 certification is an excellent way of demonstrating your commitment to the welfare of your employees, suppliers and customers. The independent assessment process verifies that your organisation has implemented a structured Occupational Health and Safety management system, increasing stakeholder confidence, enhancing your brand and giving you a competitive advantage.

Our experienced QMS consultants can guide you through the ISO 45001 implementation and certification process, producing an OH&S management system for you and conducting the independent assessment to verify that you have:

  • Implemented a robust OH&S management system
  • Conducted suitable planning and risk assessments
  • Provided adequate health and safety training for employees
  • Raised employee awareness of health and safety policies
  • Communicated the benefits of your OH&S management systems to stakeholders
  • Strengthened your ability to respond to emergency situations
  • Established performance monitoring and continual improvement processes.

Certification Benefits

The benefits of ISO 45001 to your business can be substantial, from complying with changes in legislation to preventing accidents, cutting the cost of claims and protecting your employees. Implementing the standard’s compliant management system will quickly help you reduce risks to your organisation. It includes processes for identifying hazards and establishing emergency procedures.

Making your organisation a safer place to work is good for productivity because it leads to fewer disruptive incidents and it also helps to raise employee morale. While the flexible nature of the ISO 45001 Management System will help to ensure you can adapt to future changes in legislation.

In summary, ISO 45001 provides an enhanced and up-to-date approach to OH&S, addressing risks and opportunities in a more structured manner than previously recognised OH&S Management Systems such as OHSAS 18001.

Certification Requirements

Clause 4 Context of the Organization

Section 4 requires each organization to analyze and understand the context of its activities, both externally and internally, and understand the needs of interested parties. Among other things, this will include understanding legislation, employee, stakeholder and shareholder requirements. It will also go a long way towards defining the scope of your OH&S management system. It is also worth noting that the standard requires this to be retained as documented information, and is a key part of ISO 45001 structure.

Clause 5 Leadership and Worker Participation

The Leadership section encourages both management commitment and involvement from employees. This gives an implied outcome that health and safety should become embedded in an organization’s activities, as opposed to the concern of one responsible individual, as was possible in the past under the terms of OHSAS 18001. For example, sharing tasks and responsibilities across the team can ensure that knowledge is shared, and multiple team members become proficient in the running of the system. This allows consolidation of the culture and reinforcing the importance of OH&S within the organization.

Clause 6 Planning for the OH&S System

Planning to avoid undesired outcomes such as failures to meet legislation or the risk of employee injury is at the heart of the ISO 45001 standard, which now recognizes “opportunity” as a key element of OH&S activities. Critically, Section 6 deals with objective-setting for the OH&S management system, and there are also requirements to document some aspects of this section.

Clause 7 Support

Clause 7 covers “support” elements such as communication, competence and awareness and documented information as well as resources. These specific requirements should ensure that the OH&S management system is more aligned with the activities of the business as a whole than may have been the case under OHSAS 18001. In your organization it is important to ensure that top management play a leading part in the communication process, and that employees are consulted when key information is recorded as documented information. Such decisions can ensure that the business objectives and the OH&S management system are closely related.

Clause 8 Operation

Operational controls and emergency preparedness and response are addressed in Clause 8. This clause is now more specific about outsourcing and procurement management, meaning that organizations must ensure that the responsibility for risk is retained by management and not passed on to contractors. Effective operational control is a critical factor in any health & safety management system, particularly in terms of managing contractors. Paying close attention to this clause will prove to be of benefit to most organizations.

Clause 9 Performance Evaluation

Monitoring and measuring the OH&S management system performance, including compliance to legislation and internal audit results, is covered in clause 9. This section also emphasizes that management must review the OH&S management system performance to ensure effective performance. There is a distinct advantage of ensuring that top management is involved in performance evaluation as would be the case with objective setting, thereby allowing actions for continual improvement to be considered as a result.

Clause 10 Improvement

The last clause sets out how an organization must ensure that continual improvement is derived from the OH&S management system. This can include dealing effectively with non-conformance and employing a good corrective action process. In real-life situations, it can pay to involve the team in corrective action processes, as nobody will be more effective at defining the root cause of an issue than those directly involved in the process. Likewise, this will ensure that the team who are responsible for the prevention of reoccurrence have possession of the full facts and can be vigilant against a repeat non-conformance, laying the foundation for improved performance.