What is a Management System?
12th February 2026Follow one ISO standard or create an Integrated Management system?
I personally believe that you should either start with or include the ISO 9001 Quality Management system. There are extra specific clauses in Clause 8, that are not in other Standards, and I believe they are important.
In the years leading up to 2015, the numbering with the 3 most common standards of Quality, Environmental and Occupational Health & Safety were not the same. That changed with the issue of ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 in 2015. They follow now what is called the HLS (High Level Structure). ISO 45001 when it was issued in 2018 followed this guideline, as have most other standards.
The big exception is standards that start with 17, as these standards need to be Accredited as opposed to Certified. (e.g. 17021, 17025, 17065)
This makes it much easier to create an Integrated Management System either from the start or to later add to an existing management system that you may already have.
