MANILA – The 163 member-countries International Organisation for Standardisation is calling all sectors to have its say on the ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 draft International Standards on Quality Management Systems and Environmental Management Systems.
The ISO lays down on the table the ISO/ DIS 9001–Fundamentals and Vocabulary and the ISO/DIS 14001–Requirements with guidance for use, for the review, comments and inputs of standards officers, regulatory bodies, systems experts, industries, consumers, and, academe. The ISO reviews its standards every five years to establish if a revision is required to keep it abreast and relevant for the marketplace.
The ISO 9001 is one of ISO’s most famous international standards. It specifies the terminologies and fundamentals for QMS. ISO expects that the revisions on ISO 9001 will respond to the latest trends and be compatible with other management systems such as ISO 14001.
The ISO 14001 is also a widely used international standard. It provides the requirements for an EMS to manage an organization’s environmental impacts.
Similarly to ISO 9001, the ISO intends to develop a new copy that will complement other management standards such as ISO 9001. Moreover, ISO expects that the new version will include a requirement to understand the organization’s context in order to better manage risk, with more emphasis made on leaders within organizations to promote environmental management.
In addition there will be a shift towards improving environmental performance rather than improving the management system. The new ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 are due for publication prior to the end of 2015.
The Department of Trade and Industry’s Bureau of Philippine Standards is the Philippines’ full member to ISO. The BPS urges all sectors to provide their reactions on the draft International Standards so the Philippines can have their say.
The BPS said it will accept submissions of technical views and comments on or before October 1, 2014 for ISO 9001 and on or before October 5, 2014 for ISO 14001. The BPS will also accept notifications that the drafts are acceptable. These inputs will be referred to the ISO Central Secretariat in Geneva, Switzerland for consideration.
20