First global meeting HLS revision
11-03-2019 The first meeting of the international working group responsible for the review of the HLS was held at the end of February in Atlanta. All ISO committees that have developed management system standards have been invited to participate in this Task Force 14 working group, together with national standardization bodies such as NEN. The Task Force (TF 14) has the task of preparing the revision of Annex SL and currently has around 60 members.
The first JTCG TF 14 meeting was held in Atlanta from February 25 to March 1, 2019. On site, 35 experts were present and around 10 early virtual morning meetings. In this way, 15 ISO committees and 15 country members were present. represented by ISO.
Three topics at the center
The purpose of this first meeting was to get everyone at the same level of information and to identify the key issues to be addressed in this review. As was previously expected, the subject of "risks and opportunities" was extensively discussed. Thinking in terms of risks and opportunities becomes one of the major achievements of the new HLS-based management system standards. At the same time, it is a subject that is worked out slightly differently in the various standards, which of course is not useful for organizations that want to integrate quality, environmental, working conditions and information security management into an integrated risk management system. Three topics were actually central to the discussion:
- Should the definition of risk from ISO 31000 be included in the HLS: "risk is the effect of uncertainty on (achieving) objectives." This makes it clear that risk is a neutral concept and can entail opportunities and threats for an organization, strategically, tactically and operationally. The fact is, however, that risk is seen as something negative by most people. In the context of a management system, objectives also have a specific meaning, whereby strategic and operational risks run the risk of being left out of the picture. Finally: is there only a risk if an organization has formulated a specific objective for that subject? So there are still some nuts to crack before this definition can be adopted in the HLS.
- In the HLS there is a common thread from the context analysis (type of SWOT) in chapter 4, to the assessment of risks and opportunities and the planning of actions and measures in chapter 6 to the implementation of control measures in chapter 6 and the monitoring of the effectiveness thereof in Chapter 9. Is that common thread recognized and recognized by the standards in a similar way?
- Is the concept of 'chance' the counterpart of risk and must an organization manage opportunities in a comparable systematic way within the context of a (quality) management system? Or are opportunities more the goals that top management strives for and does the management system need to pay particular attention to the risks that stand in the way of achieving those opportunities? In this context, opportunities are more likely to be the options for implementing risk management more effectively and efficiently.
The points for attention were extensively discussed and discussed from many sides in Atlanta. It has been decided to put a number of questions to the 'followings' of the experts in TF 14, the answers of which must provide input for determining the course at the next meeting.
For a number of other subjects (such as governance & leadership, management of change, emergency preparedness, outsourcing and organizational knowledge) study groups have been set up with the assignment to inventory how standards have been implemented in addition to the HLS. This can lead to proposals for further detailing in the HLS or 'sample entries' that ISO committees can apply in the specific management system standards.
The meeting was in a constructive atmosphere and it seems that a good start has been made on the review process. The next meeting is scheduled for July in Vienna. A first draft version of the new HLS text must be ready there.
Webinar 'Start revision HLS'
During an interactive webinar on Friday 22 March from 11 am to 11:30 am. Dick Hortensius fully updates you with the latest news from Atlanta. Do you want to attend this free webinar?
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