Management tool to help businesses streamline best practice
Press release - 10th October 2012
BSI has announced the revision of PAS 99, a practical guide which enables users of multiple management system standards to integrate elements together, avoiding the need for duplication of effort.
Faced with an ever more competitive market, many organizations have now adopted, or are in the process of adopting, formal management system standards such as ISO 9001 (for quality) and ISO 14001 (for the environment) in order to ‘put a microscope on the way they run their business’ and ultimately improve their business performance.
The new PAS 99 will serve as a valuable a tool for anyone involved in implementing more than one management system standard, for example: auditors, quality managers, compliance managers, risk managers, health and safety managers, company secretaries, regardless of size of business or sector within which they operate.
“Integrating common requirements of various standards into one framework will undoubtedly help businesses reduce time, costs and resources employed by enabling users to deal with similar processes in a systematic and streamlined way,” said Shirley Bailey-Wood, Director of Publishing at BSI. “The revised document will allow organisations to adopt a holistic approach to managing business risks, streamlining processes and avoiding duplication of effort in internal and external auditing.”
The amended PAS takes account of recent developments in international standards and has been revised in line with a new ISO guide to the ISO Directives, Annex SL (formerly draft Guide 83)*, which is already affecting upcoming revisions to major management standards such as ISO 14001 and ISO 27001 (for information security). By aligning the new PAS 99 specification with this new guide, users will become familiar with a common style and language which will be used across upcoming management systems standards. This will aid understanding and speed of implementation, use and revision: once more helping to cut costs and save resources.
Also new to PAS 99:2012 is the inclusion of other relevant management systems standards – notably ISO 22301 for business continuity management (originally BS 25999) and a comparison of relevant clauses in each which were not incorporated in the first edition. Updates and revisions to other standards already covered in the document, such as ISO 9001 (2008) and BS OHSAS 18001 OHSAS (for health and safety), are also covered ensuring the PAS is current and in tune with the contemporary business environment and recent standards.
David Smith, Chair of the PAS 99 steering committee said: “In my experience, SMEs have taken issue, for many years, with the apparent lack of compatibility and the duplication of requirements in ISO management system standards. For over 15 years, the UK has been seeking ways of helping to simplify management systems for users. The new PAS will fulfil that need by offering a framework that enables organizations to both simplify their arrangements and also future-proof them for the revised editions of ISO 9001, ISO 14001 etc. The new approach in PAS 99:2012 should significantly reduce the time that management spends on internal auditing, as it eliminates multiple audits of common processes and thus simplifies management control.”
PAS 99:2012 has been developed by an influential group of management systems experts with practical, hands-on knowledge about the implementation of management systems at both a national and international level across a variety of different sectors.
