The revision of two of the world's most popular ISO standards, ISO 9001 for Quality Management and ISO 14001 for Environmental Management, has moved to the Final Draft International Stage (FDIS).
The standards are now out for a two months final comment and vote process in the member countries. It is not likely that there will be substantial changes from the FDIS to the published versions. So what we now see in the standards is close to the final result.
To get to the FDIS versions the working groups for the respective standards have resolved several hundred comments received from multiple countries and stakeholders. Except for a few more substantial changes, most of the changes are of smaller technical nature and to further improve text and consistency in use of specific terms.
“We look forward to get the two biggest standards finalized and released shortly. The user community will benefit from some of the major changes compared to the current editions, including focus on leadership, better strategic fit, risk-based thinking and focus on objectives and performance management,” says Tor Gunnar Tollefsen, Global Manager for Management Systems in DNV GL - Business Assurance.
The final standards are due for publication in September 2015.