Integrated Management System

BRIEF NOTE ON INTEGRATED MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS

INTRODUCTION

Organizations all over the world are increasingly concerned to improve their QEHS and market performance in sustainable manner. Accordingly there is a great movement in institutionalizing a structured, systematic and documented management systems approach to achieve the above objective in an auditable manner at enterprise level. However, traditionally organizations of all kinds have adopted different management systems (i.e. QMS: ISO 9001, EMS: ISO 14001, OHSMS: OHSAS 18001, SA 8000) at a different period of the times in succession based on ISO versions of management systems. While implementing and maintaining these respective management systems organizations experience a good degree of difficulty on account of following:

• Multiple/ overlapping organizations responsibilities to manage different management systems.
• Multiple policy statements.
• Multiple management systems documentation (Apex or Systems Manuals).
• Multiple operational control procedures in varying formats.
• Multiple task of record maintenance under each system.
• Multiple caders of internal auditors and overlapping audit schedules.
• Multiple and frequent audits by external agencies.
• Overlapping of resources.
• Inconsistency/ multiple instructions at shop floor levels.
• Increased cost due to overlapping of efforts/ audits by external agency.
• Multi-focused/multi coordinated efforts
• Multiple internal communications

Accordingly all kinds of organizations have started pursuing the approach towards development and maintenance of unified management systems to address concurrently the confronting quality, production, environment, health & safety, marketing issues.

PRINCIPLES OF IMS

These management systems are termed as “Integrated Management Systems” and follow the following basic management systems principles

• Policy
• Planning
• Implementation & operation
• Checking & corrective action
• Management review
• Reporting
• Continual Improvement

While developing these IMS, it is ensured that it also meets the requirements of the following ISO specifications to demonstrate conformity to stake holders

• ISO 9001:2008
• ISO 14001:2004
• OHSAS 18001:2007
• SA 8000:2008

In addition to above, a typical IMS also take into account the specific organizational needs and accordingly the PDCA structure is defined. Such a system results in a number of organizational benefits and optimal utilization of its human, financial & technical resources in objective manner. Apart from this, the following benefits are experienced by IMS organizations

BENEFITS OF IMS

In addition to the following benefits, IMS brings a good amount of consistency in organizational resources and thus providing more opportunity for innovation and growth.

• Unified Policy statement
• Unified/ single management systems manual addressing the requirement of ISO 9001, ISO 14001 and OHSAS 18001/ SA 8000 in addition to organizational needs.
• Unified/ single operational control procedures to cover all situations which can result in deviation from the above policy statement.
• A unified master list of objectives & targets and management programmes
• An integrated auditing competence (Internal Auditors equipped with knowledge in competence to perform combine audits i.e. all management systems at a time)
• Combined certification and audit programme from a single certification agency.

TYPICAL METHODOLOGY FOR DESIGN, IMPLEMENTATION AND CERTIFICATION/ MAINTENANCE OF IMS (CERTIFICATION W.R.T. QEHS MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS)

The typical road map for design, implementation and maintenance of integrated management systems includes following steps.

DESIGN STAGE

• Comprehensive gap analysis/ initial review in line with ISO requirements/ organizational needs/ best practices to provide input to system/ documentation development.
• Appreciation training to top/ senior/ middle management on IMS.
• Appointment of management representative and steering group.
• Development of combined QEHS policy.
• Development of combined IMS manual (this shall include all the PDCA mechanism including commitment, customer focus, roles, responsibilities & resource management, product/ services design, development & realization, purchasing, analysis of data, training, awareness and competence, document control, emergency response preparedness, vendors/ contractors control, community relation, monitoring and measurement, internal & external communication, document control, internal audits and management review, bench marking, amongst other management aspects).
• Development of register of applicable legislation.
• Development of IMS operational procedures manual
• Development of QEHS objectives and management programmes.
• Development of register of EHS aspects/ hazards

IMPLEMENTATION STAGE

• IMS training to all personnel including shop floor management
• Internal auditors training as per ISO 19011:2002
• Internal IMS audit
• Internal IMS management review

CERTIFICATION STAGE

• Selection of certification agency
• Pre assessment
• Main assessment

APPROACH

Organizations are adopting IMS at two levels

Level 1      Corporate Level as well as Individual operating sites level (This approach follows corporate as well as site documentation in consistence manner. All the operating sites will have consistency in documentation development & control as per corporate guidelines. However, all the sites will incorporate their site specific objectives and operational controls as relevant).

Level 2      Individual Operating Sites level only

EQMS is a pioneer organization in developing IMS for a host of organizations in the country in line with QEHS management systems/ certification (some of the select examples include Hindalco, Vikram Cement, NTPC – SAIL, Tata Motors, Tata Chemicals, DSCL Kota, ALSTOM Transmission & Distribution, Hindustan Zinc Limited, Neyvelli Lignite and may others.