Globalization has made it easier to exchange ideas, products, and services across borders. Nowadays, it is common for the average consumer to order a product from a country that is miles away or for organizations to collaborate with foreign companies. Before the ISO (International Organization for Standardization) was formed, standardization in global trade, business processes, and government interactions wasn’t commonplace.
The ISO created a variety of standards that created consensus-based expectations across global industries, governments, organizations, and markets, which has largely boosted globalization. Two of the most embraced standards from the ISO are ISO 14001 and ISO 9001. Both standards are quite important across the globe, and learning their differences could help grow your organization. Read on to learn the differences:
What Is ISO 9001?
In a nutshell, the ISO 9001 is the international quality management standard. It outlines policies and procedures that can be implemented to meet customer needs and enhance their satisfaction. The standard can help an entity outline the objectives, resources, and processes necessary to keep customers happy. It can also be used to measure how effectively you cater to your customer or end-user, and widely relies on Quality Management Systems (QMS).
The ISO 9001 standard covers a broad spectrum. It can be used by all organizations, whether they are big or small. Government agencies could also use it to meet the needs of their citizens. The standard is based on seven principles, which include:
Customer focus
Leadership
Improvement
Engagement of people
Relationship management
Process approach
Evidence-based decision-making
Getting a certification for ISO isn’t necessary, but some businesses and government institutions only work with entities that are ISO 9001 certified. Even if your organization doesn’t plan on work with such businesses or government agencies, getting certified could be beneficial for you. Ideally, certification involves implementing the standard’s requirements and getting audited. ISO 9001 certificates have a lifespan of three years.
What Is ISO 14001?
In a nutshell, the ISO 14001 is the international standard for environmental management. It has been quite pivotal in the fight for environmental conservation and controlling global warming. The standard outlines policies and procedures that can help improve the environmental performance of a business, organization, or even government entity. Just like the ISO 9001, this standard can be implemented by organizations of all sizes and orientations, as long as they want to improve their environmental impact.
You can use the ISO 14001 to determine the objectives, processes, and resources needed to be more environment-friendly in their undertakings. In fact, some businesses and organizations will require their partners to implement the standard before working with them. Simply using Environmental Management Systems (EMS) can ease the process of implementation.
Differences between ISO 9001 And ISO 14001
The main difference between the two is what they address. The ISO 9001 addresses an entity’s approach to quality. It will involve measuring quality in key areas like management responsibility, customer satisfaction, and resource management.
On the other hand, ISO 14001 focuses on how well an entity can manage their environment. The ISO 14001 is based on continual improvement, whereby an organization will need to implement and improve environmental conservation processes and monitor them continually. While both standards share clauses from the ISO’s HLS (High Level Structure), there is a difference between how the clauses are implemented.
How The HLS Clauses Affect ISO standard
ISO has a group of management system standards (MSS), and ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 are part of this group. Any ISO-MSS is meant to follow a couple of clauses, commonly known as the High Level Structure (HLS). While they were finalized in 2015, the HLS clauses make the design of the different standards easy to follow.
Each standard is created from this skeleton by adding a subject matter. The ten HLS clauses include:
Scope- used to set a scope for achieving the ISO standard (health and safety, quality, or environmental management, etc.)
Terms and definitions- a list that defines terms specific to the standard
Normative references- a list of documents that will aid in a applying a specific standard
Context of the organization- requirements tied to the internal and external issues affecting an organization
Planning- spells out the ideal approach for your organization to address opportunities and threats as well as ensure the management system you are using works efficiently
Leadership- outlines the expectation for those in leadership positions
Support- outlines all resources you might need to implement to ensure the management system works properly, from employees to having a suitable environment
Operation- it lays out how you can identify the processes required for the operation of a management system, including contingency plans in case of emergency
Performance evaluation- provides metrics for measuring the success of the management system as well as the monitoring process
Improvement- outlines control measures for dealing with incidents and non-conformities
Implementing both the ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 in your organization will ensure that your quality and environmental conservation standards are on point. It also makes your organization appealing to other compliance-conscious organizations. Even though you don’t plan to do business internationally, implementing these standards could set you apart from the competition.