Five reasons not to delay your ISO upgrade

20 Jan, 2017

The standards are updated every few years to ensure they remain viable and reflective of the business practices of today. The standards are also revised to make sure core standards are in unison and similar aspects work together.

If you are currently running the ISO 9001 Quality Management System and/or the ISO 14001 Environmental Management System you now have until September 2018 to upgrade from the 2008 version to the new 2015 version.

Upgrading can be a bit daunting, and you could be tempted to put it off until as late as possible. But why would you? The standards are upgraded, based on feedback, to better the usability of the standard and make them more relevant.

There are many benefits of upgrading to the new 2015 versions, the top 5 being:

1. Changes to the high-level structure of the standards
2. Better integration for clients running multiple standards
3. More user-friendly and more intuitive for service based organisations
4. Focus on risk-based thinking – helps identify and categorise organisational risks
5. More focus on leadership to maintain the standard

Your upgrade shouldn’t be feared, or seen as extra work – in fact the ISO 9001:2015 is designed to be simpler than its predecessor.

In order to upgrade, you simply need to familiarise yourself with the changes in the standards and devise an implementation plan – this could include additional training needs, organisational changes or new communication strategies.

To speak to a member of our team about transitioning to the ISO 9001:2015 please get in touch on 01905 670303.

If you are already a client of ISO Quality Services we will need to perform a gap analysis, from the old requirements to the new requirements and as usual will provide recommendations to help develop your policies and documents to be in line with the new standard. This can be done as part of your Internal Review and within 6 months you can be re-certified to the new standard.

For more information on the ISO 9001 Quality Management System, please get in touch with our team. If you would like to get the ball rolling you can request a quote here.

If you already hold ISO 9001:2008 or ISO 14001:2004 and are UKAS accredited, we can also provide consultancy to help you transition towards the new version of either of these standards.