As the International Standardisation Organisation (ISO) is moving into the initial stages of its management system standard revision, companies are getting ready to comply with the new versions of ISO 9001 and ISO 14001.

The High Level Structure already promises alignment among the standards to make implementation easier for companies and organizations with management systems certified to multiple standards. The big question for certified companies and organizations seems to be how they will meet the new requirements.

The organization and its stakeholders

In our first report, focusing on HLS requirement 4.1 – Understanding the organization and its context, 16% of our respondents said that they are fully compliant, while 43% consider themselves to be somewhat compliant.

Understanding the influencing factors for an organization is crucial in order to make a proper fact based risk evaluation and to build a management system that is efficient and able to secure planned intended outcome. The biggest challenge will normally be to understand and analyze external issues that influence the business.

Clause 4.2 – Understanding the needs and expectations of interested parties, addresses the relationships a company has with its stakeholders. 15% of the companies find that they are compliant with 4.2, while 39% consider themselves to be somewhat compliant.

Determination of relevant interested parties may involve cross-functional resources, and it needs to be a recurring activity covering both internal and external stakeholders to re-confirm status and the demands they imply.

See the full reports for a more elaborate deep dive on how companies are moving to close the gap and DNV GL’s our viewpoint.