“Waste is Design Flaw”: Sophie Thomas
Introduction
Life is unpredictable. Many things are happening around us and we do not have any control. Nature also plays an important role in our well-being. As long as Mother Earth is predictable, we know what to do and what not. But when nature becomes unpredictable, it creates chaos in our lives.
Content: What is Climate Change
- What is the amendment related to ‘Climate Change’ in the ISO series?
- Why it is important to understand the requirements?
- How to effectively implement the requirement in the organization, if applicable?
- Conclusion
Objective
Climate change presents a fundamental threat to human health. It affects the physical environment as well as all aspects of both natural and human systems – including social and economic conditions and the functioning of health systems.
In the ISO series, an amendment has been issued to add ‘climate change’ as one of the requirements. This amendment does not require an organization to have climate change initiatives unless it has been identified as a relevant issue to achieve the intended results of the QMS. It is up to the organization to determine if and how climate change issues impact the QMS and its intended results.
Once you go through the article, you will understand the meaning of ‘Climate change’ in the context of ISO standards, why it is important, which are the clauses which can be impacted and how to interpret them.
Read More: https://bit.ly/LinearCircularEconomy
Definition: ISO 59004: 2024
Circular Economy (Cl 3.1.1): Economic system that uses a systematic approach to maintain a circular flow of resources by recovering, retaining or adding to their value while contributing to sustainable development.
Sustainable Development (Cl 3.1.11): Development that meets the environmental, social economic needs of the present without compromising the ability of the future generations to meet their own needs.
Life Cycle (Cl 3.2.4): Consecutive and interlinked stages in the life of a solution.
Linear Economy (Cl 3.5.10): Economic system where resources typically follow the pattern of extraction, production, use and disposal.
End of Life (Cl 3.5.30): <Product> point in time when a product is taken out of use and its resources are either recovered for processing or is disposed of.
Life Cycle Assessment (Cl 3.6.8): Compilation and evaluation of the inputs, outputs and potential environmental impacts of a product system throughout its life cycle.
Read More: https://bit.ly/ReduceRecyleReuse
Detailed Information
In support of the ISO London Declaration on Climate Change, ISO passed a resolution that will result in two new statements of text being added to many existing management system standards and will be included in all new standards under development/revision, to address the need to consider the effect of Climate Change on the ability to achieve the intended results of the management system. The changes will be introduced initially as Amendments to these published standards.
The changes (two new statements) will be incorporated into the new text of the Harmonized Structure (Appendix 2 of the Annex SL in the ISO/IEC Directives Part 1 Consolidated ISO Supplement) as follows.
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What is the Requirement?
On 23rd Feb 2024, IAF published an amendment to ISO standards wherein for Clause 4.1 and 4.2, ‘Climate Change’ was added. More than 30 different ISO standards like ISO 9001, ISO 14001, ISO 45001 etc. have been impacted.
It is the responsibility of the organization to determine any relevant Issues related to ‘climate change’. If any, whether they are relevant to its purpose & strategic direction and how that affects the organization’s ability to achieve the intended results of the quality management system.
The amendments are effective as of the date of publication and there is no transition for implementation because of the overall intent quoted above.
Why this Requirement is Important?
Integrating climate change considerations into global standards underscores the need to recognize its impact on our external environment. By incorporating these climate change provisions into standards, the organization can activate positive effects on both a local and global scale.
The key reasons why ‘Climate Change’ is important for the organization and society are:
- Regulatory compliance
- Reputation and brand image
- Financial risk and opportunity
- Supply chain resilience
- Innovation and adaptation
- Employee engagement
How to Effectively Implement it?
Consistent with ISO 19011: 2018 Guidelines for auditing management systems, auditors (third parties like DNV) should maintain objectivity and neutrality when auditing climate change issues. They should not express personal beliefs relating to climate change. The role of the auditors is to assess whether the organization determines if climate change issues are relevant or not concerning their QMS and its intended results and, if that is the case, then how it is addressed within the QMS.
Some of the ISO 9001:2015 clauses which can be audited wherein ‘Climate Change’ is relevant are as follows:
- Clause 4.3 Scope – Do climate change issues impact the scope or change the applicability of certain requirements and any changes in products and services?
- Clause 6.1 Risks and Opportunities – Do climate change issues impact anywhere along an organization’s value stream (customer requirements to customer satisfaction)?
- Clause 6.3 Changes – Do Scope changes or Risk and Opportunities require changes to the quality management system and its processes?
- Clause 7.1 Resources – If climate change issues are relevant, how does this impact resources to deliver products and services?
- Clause 8.2 Requirement for Products and Services – Where in the definition of either products or services does climate change impact requirements and documentation? Can new definitions be validated?
- Clause 8.3 Design and Development of Products and Services – Does verification and validation cover design changes that are driven by climate change?
- Clause 8.4 Control of Externally Provided Processes, Products, and Services – Do requirements related to climate change potentially impact externally provided processes, products, and services? Do controls and information need updating?
- Clause 8.5 Production and Service Provision – Do issues related to climate change indicate the need for specific controls of production and service?
- Clause 9 Performance Evaluation – Do monitoring and measurement controls need updating and has customer satisfaction been impacted?
Conclusion:
If deemed relevant by the organization, climate change issues may be embedded in risk and opportunities, changes made to the quality management system, or even in the scope of the organization. New statutory and regulatory requirements with climate change relevance that apply to products and services need to be assessed and action taken if necessary. New product and service features driven by climate change need to be verified and evaluated. In practice, auditors need to perform the audit to processes related to context, relevant issues and relevant requirements as usual, but evaluating specifically how climate change issues were considered.
Read More: http://bit.ly/CommonSpecialCause
References:
ISO 9001: 2015
ISO/TS 9002: 2016
Industry Experts
This is the 220th article of this Quality Management series. Every weekend, you will find useful information that will make your Management System journey Productive. Please share it with your colleagues too.
In the words of Albert Einstein, “The important thing is never to stop questioning.” I invite you to ask anything about the above subject. Questions and answers are the lifeblood of learning, and we are all learning. I will answer all questions to the best of my ability and promise to keep personal information confidential.
Your genuine feedback and response are extremely valuable. Please suggest topics for the coming weeks.