IUMSS HANDBOOK: Guidance on Integrated Management System Standards

IUMSS HANDBOOK: Guidance on Integrated Management System Standards

The International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) has published the Integrated Use of Management System Standards (IUMSS) Handbook. First published in 2008, this second edition brings together best-practice guidance and case studies on the implementation of integrating management system standards.

The Handbook has been updated to reflect the many changes in management system standards since the advent of the Annex SL format and terminology. Annex SL was developed in order to ensure that all future ISO management system standards share a common format irrespective of the specific discipline to which they relate.

Annex SL prescribes a high-level structure, identical core text, and common terms and core definitions based on the following clauses:

• Clause 1 Scope;
• Clause 2 Normative references;
• Clause 3 Terms and definitions;
• Clause 4 Context of the organisation;
• Clause 5 Leadership;
• Clause 6 Planning;
• Clause 7 Support;
• Clause 8 Operation;
• Clause 9 Performance evaluation;
• Clause 10 Improvement.

In the new disposition, the Plan – Do – Check – Act cycle is transposed as follows:

• Clause 6: Planning (Plan);
• Clause 7: Support & Clause 8: Operation (Do);
• Clause 9: Performance evaluation (Check);
• Clause 10: Improvement (Act).

The number of management system standards based on the Annex SL high-level structure has risen dramatically in recent years, reflecting the needs and demands of more and more organisations looking to improve their performance across a wide range of areas and sectors.

Typical of the standards that have adopted this structure include the following:

• ISO 9001:2015 Quality Management
• ISO 14001:2015 Environmental Management
• ISO 45001:2018 Occupational Health and Safety
• ISO 50001:2018 Energy Management
• ISO 22301:2012 Business Continuity
• ISO 27001:2013 Information Security
• ISO 41001:2018 Facility Management
• ISO 22000:2018 Food Safety Management
• ISO 55001:2014 Asset Management
• ISO 21001:2018 Education Management

From improving quality to energy efficiency, environmental performance or information security management, the use of management systems has grown rapidly in recent years, reflecting increasingly complex operating environments and organisational contexts. The quest for continual improvement and sustained performance has prompted the need for a handbook to help guide organisations through effective management system design that is flexible and easy to use.

This handbook provides a practical guide for organisations to effectively align their management systems with their strategies, plans and operations.

The Handbook contains the following three chapters:

• Chapter 1 describes the fundamentals of a management system and how it links an organisation’s strategies, plans, and operations;
• Chapter 2 describes the structure and content of different management system standards and their application;
• Chapter 3 describes how an organisation integrates the requirements of multiple management system standards into their management system.

This article has been submitted by our training partner Antaris and we will be posting a series of blogs about Integrated Management Systems in the coming weeks.