documentation

IMS Documentation Guide for Interested Parties

The Interested parties list template includes expected stakeholders such as Customers, Employees, Suppliers, Shareholders and Certification Bodies. You can easily tailor these to match your organisation or add new interested parties.

The guidance includes identifying the Needs, Expectations and Requirements of interested parties and lookup columns enable you to select from the Controls and Legal Register to demonstrate how you meet those needs.

CONTEXT OF THE ORGANISATION INC. INTERESTED PARTIES

The strategic direction of the business is to grow the company and its market share whilst developing a stronger Health, Safety and Environmental performance within the industry. 

The development and scope of the MS (Management System) have been aligned with the business strategy. They will ensure that the business continually improves its business processes through review and monitoring performance.

The organisation operates with a wide selection of stakeholders, including; Employees and Regulatory Bodies. 

The organisation must ensure that its processes are comprehensive, rigorous, and comply with statutory and regulatory requirements whilst simultaneously offering the flexibility to incorporate a rapidly changing marketplace and advancing technology. 

The organisation understands that it has a responsibility to mitigate its impact on the environment. This impact can be direct or indirect and short or long term. The organisation has assessed its significant aspects based on its operational activities and has implemented controls to monitor measure, and, wherever possible, manage those impacts. In the development of this system, the organisation has planned and implemented actions to address risks and opportunities that could:

  • Affect the effectiveness of the MS (Management System)
  • Affect intended results
  • Cause negative effects
  • Cause non-compliance to statutory and regulatory requirements
  • Impact on the local or wider environment

The organisation identifies and reviews the needs and expectations of those parties concerned with or affected by its performance (the "Stakeholders"). Risk and Opportunities, including those posed affected by stakeholders, have been addressed as part of the creation of the MS (Management System). The Risk and Opportunities Register identifies associated controls, training and records requirements, including communication. The Risk Register will be reviewed through the management review process. 

The organisation has embedded a communication process throughout the MS (Management System) to ensure appropriate channels are available to all interested parties (internal and external). These processes consider: what will be communicated, when to communicate, whom to communicate with and how to communicate. It also determined their needs and expectations, the way the organisation complies with these needs and expectations and the communication tools used regarding interested parties.

Some needs and expectations are considered as requirements, and these can be: 

  • Obligatory, when defined in applicable legislation, regulations, contracts, and other legal bidding documents;
  • Explicit, when they are identified in documented information such as orders, emails, proposals, meeting minutes, etc.;
  • Implicit, when the requirements constitute common practice in the sector or within the specific relationship with the client and other interested parties.

The different needs and expectations are described in the Interested Parties Register located in Toolbox. The Interested Parties that have a High influence on the company’s performance and decisions or that are affected by the organisation have more comprehensive communication means in place.

The Interested Parties Register (Toolbox) is linked to the Legal Register whenever the needs and expectations of the interested parties constitute a compliance obligation. The Legal Register is organised by subject matter, such as Quality, Environment, Health & Safety, and Information Security and includes a section for “Other requirements” to include the compliance obligations that are not directly related to legislation and regulations. Legal and other requirements are managed according in the Statutory and Regulatory Compliance Step (Step 2 Legal register) 

LEADERSHIP COMMITMENT

The Leadership Team at the organisation is committed to continually improving quality and environmental issues and reducing risk at every level of the organisation. 

To manage the risk and opportunities associated with their industry, process and stakeholders, the organisation has implemented several controls within this MS (Management System) that include: 

  • Risk and Opportunities Register 
  • Environmental Aspects Register 
  • Legal Register 
  • Documenting operational procedure and associated responsibility, risks and controls. 
  • Documenting roles, responsibilities and resources

These controls help the organisation to understand the risks and opportunities within their organisation. The Leadership Team will address these and provide sufficient resources, training or other support to mitigate the risk and maximise the opportunity. 

When involvement of the Leadership Team is required, this will be the MS (Management System) Manager and the Top Management. The Leadership Team has specific responsibilities they are aware of and wholeheartedly support. These include:

  • Ensuring that all personnel acting on behalf of the organisation are aware of their responsibility to support the MS (Management System). The associated controls for these are defined within the MS.
  • Ensuring that policies and objectives are established for the MS and compatible with the organisation's strategic direction.
  • Enduring compliance with statutory and regulatory requirements
  • Ensuring the integration of the MS requirements into the organisation’s business processes.
  • Ensuring that the resources needed for the MS are available;
  • Communicating the importance of effective management and of conforming to the MS requirements;
  • Ensuring that the MS achieves its intended outcome(s);
  • Directing and supporting persons to contribute to the effectiveness of the MS; 
  • Promoting continual improvement;
  • Supporting other relevant management roles to demonstrate their leadership as it applies to their areas of responsibility.


SUPPLIERS 

SCOPE 

The Organisation ensures that the performance of suppliers of products and services does not compromise:

  • the quality of product and service, 
  • the product security, safety, and traceability, 
  • the environmental performance (ISO 14001),
  • the health & safety performance (45001),
  • the legal compliance,
  • the requirements agreed with its customers and third-party organisations. 

To achieve that, it determines the procedures for the initial selection and continual evaluation of the performance of these suppliers.  

EXTERNAL PROVIDERS INITIAL SELECTION AND CONTINUOUS EVALUATION 

Potential providers must be evaluated before they can start working with the Organisation using the following criteria:  

  • Management Systems certification and Quality, Environment and Health and Safety practices and documented Policies and Procedures; 
  • Compliance with the service/product supplied against a specification; 
  • Price; 
  • Reputation.

The approval process is carried out by Top Management responsible for purchasing the service or product.

CONTINUAL EVALUATION 

The supplier will be assessed on a job-per-job basis after being granted Supplier Approval. Records of these assessments are not maintained unless an issue has occurred. In this case, communication with the supplier will be kept for future performance evaluation.

At least once per year, before the Management Review, the supplier performance data is collated, and the existing suppliers are evaluated.  

The criteria for evaluation are: 

  • Meet the organisation’s requirements;
  • Quality of work or service provided;
  • Responsiveness to complaints;
  • Quality if reports prepared;
  • Deliveries on time. 

A performance review will be carried out by Top Management, leading to the supplier being removed. Alternatively, the Organisation will agree on improvements that the supplier needs to make and will re-assess the supplier’s performance after an agreed time has elapsed.

Providers that can provide services or products that meet more requirements have a higher evaluation, therefore, are in a better position to supply. 

View this step as an implementation guide

step 5 - INTERESTED PARTIES
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