The context of the organization is the set of internal and external issues that affect the management system’s ability to achieve its intended results. In management system standards it is the first step on which the system is built: scope, risks, objectives and processes rest on this foundation.
External issues
The legal and regulatory framework, market conditions, competition, technological developments, supply chain dynamics, cultural and social factors. In ISO 9001 and ISO 14001, considering climate change within the context has become mandatory.
Internal issues
Organizational structure, roles and responsibilities, existing competences, organizational knowledge, culture, resources and performance.
Relationship with interested parties
Context analysis is carried out together with the identification of interested parties and their expectations. Together they form the input to the risk and opportunity assessment.
What is examined in an audit?
What the auditor is looking for is not a document but evidence of use. Is there a traceable link between the context analysis and the risk assessment, objectives and management review?
The most common weakness is a context document that is prepared once, never updated and used nowhere in the system.
The context of the organization is a common clause of all management system standards sharing the harmonized structure. How to make the concept concrete in your own organization is practised in programmes such as the ISO 9001 training or the ISO 14001 training. Our other standard trainings are on the Academy page.