THE CLOCK IS TICKING…DON’T LEAVE IT TOO LATE.
For organisations certified to ISO 9001 and ISO 14001, today marks ‘one year to go’ until the transition deadline for the ‘2015’ versions of the leading quality and environmental standards. From 15 September 2018, ISO 9001:2008 and ISO 14001:2004 certificates will no longer be valid – which could have serious implications for your reputation and your ability to do business.
The deadline also applies to related quality management standards, such as the AS91XX:2016 series for the aerospace industry, IATF 16949:2016 for automotive, and ISO/TS 22163:2017 for rail.
If your organisation hasn’t started planning its transition already, it’s important to start now because you will need to allow enough time to for corrective actions to be implemented and reviewed if any non-conformities are raised. There is no set time for how long a transition will take as the degree of change needed will depend on how an organisation has developed and uses its existing management system. A Gap Analysis can help you identify areas within your business to focus on and will help your assessor to estimate realistic timescales for the transition assessment.
“It is not too late to develop your transition plan, but the risks of leaving it any longer are increasing. For many organisations, ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 are a licence to operate and any interruption to your certification status could directly impact your bottom line. The role of quality and environmental professionals around the world is to ensure that your organisation is informed about the changes and that a transition plan is a priority across the company,” commented LRQA System and Governance Manager, Steve Williams.
With all the major ISO standards being revised, we are at the forefront of communicating the changes and have a wealth of resources to help you navigate the changes. We offer a range of assessment services as well public and in-house training courses, all aimed at helping to ensure that organisations worldwide have a smooth transition to the new standards. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and the International Accreditation Forum (IAF) have issued a joint statement ahead of the deadline, which is available here.
Please note that as of January 2018, we have moved to the LRQA brand and retired the LRQA name.