Transition to the new versions of ISO 14001:2026 and ISO 9001:2026

Programme

Module 1: Strategy and Context 2026

1. Introduction.

Getting acquainted / introduction / course overview / participants introduce themselves.

Introduction to ISO.

Overview of key changes in the new versions of the ISO standards:

— ISO 14001:2026 «Environmental management systems»;

— DIS / ISO 9001:2026 «Quality management systems».

The «Guidance for auditing ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 on climate change issues» — what external auditors will check during re-certification and how should organisations prepare for it?

2. The company's context.

Understanding the organisation and its context in relation to risks and the company's strategy.

• Case: forming the context from a value-added perspective: the relationship between context and risks (clause 6.1) and the IMS objectives (clause 6.2).
• Case: how should an organisation respond to climate change from the standpoint of ISO 9001:2026?

New factors when defining context under ISO 14001:2026: the level of pollution, availability of natural resources, climate change, biodiversity and ecosystem health.

How to link this to the ESG context?

• Case: how should an organisation respond to climate change from the standpoint of ISO 14001:2026?

The relationship between context, the Environmental Policy and the Objectives — what should change in them?

3. Interested parties, their requirements and expectations.

Understanding interested parties. The link between interested parties and context.

Examples of interested parties and their requirements.

New IFRS requirements (S1 & S2) and their relationship to ISO 14001:2026.

Compliance obligations and their link to the company's context.

Assessing the degree of fulfilment of compliance obligations.

Examples of methods for assessing fulfilment of compliance obligations.

• Case: using AI to determine the criteria against which compliance should be assessed.

4. Scope of the IMS.

Defining the scope of the IMS and its link to context.

5. Business processes.

The process approach.

The link between context and processes.

The procedure for identifying processes — best practices.

• Case: identifying the company's processes, building the IMS Model.

Options for describing processes.

• Case: describing the company's key business processes.

6. Process criteria (KPI).

Types of criteria: input KPI and output KPI.

The link between criteria and the company's strategy.

• Case: defining process criteria (input KPI and output KPI).
• Continuous assessment: test on section 4 of ISO.

Module 2: Leadership and Risk management.

7. Top management leadership.

A new requirement in ISO 9001:2026: developing a culture of quality and ethical behaviour.

• Interactive test: determining the current level of quality culture in the company.

8. Developing the application of risk-based thinking.

Risk and uncertainty — definitions of terms

Using the MECE method (Mutually Exclusive & Collectively Exhaustive) to identify the risks of achieving Objectives.

• Practical individual work: identifying the risks of achieving the Objectives (KPIs) of the training participants.
• Case and practical work: using AI to identify risks (with the help of a special prompt).

9. The IMS Policy.

The relationship between the Policy and context.

10. Duties, responsibility and authority.

The importance of establishing all three components: duties, responsibility and authority.

• Case: «Deepwater Horizon» — a disaster caused by the «paralysis» of authority.
• Practical group work: defining duties, responsibility and authority.

Recommendations: how to build and break down duties, responsibility and authority in an organisation.

• Continuous assessment: test on section 5 of ISO.
• Group game: risk-based decision-making — the «Monty Hall paradox».

Module 3: Operational management and the Life cycle.

11. The risk management process.

— risk identification;

— risk analysis and evaluation: the «bow-tie» and «5 Whys» methods.

— risk treatment: 6 ways of treating risk.

• Case: integrating the risk management process into key business processes.

12. Identifying and evaluating environmental aspects.

What an environmental aspect (EA) is — examples.

What is the difference between EAs the organisation can control and those it can influence — examples.

New requirements of ISO 14001:2026 on identifying environmental aspects taking the life cycle into account.

• Case: identifying EAs taking the life cycle into account.

Determining significant environmental aspects (SEAs) — examples.

What is the difference in determining SEAs under abnormal conditions and potential emergency situations — examples and the link to clause 8.2 «Emergency preparedness and response».

• Case: determining significant EAs taking the life cycle into account.
• Case: planning action in response to an SEA taking the life cycle into account.

13. IMS objectives.

Common mistakes in formulating IMS Objectives and ways of eliminating them.

The relationship: Strategy — Context — Policy — Objectives.

How to formulate Objectives based on the new requirements of ISO 14001:2026 and DIS / ISO 9001:2026.

14. Actions for IMS Objectives.

Additional requirements of ISO 14001:2026 when developing actions for Objectives.

• Case: defining an EMS Objective and developing actions to achieve it.
• Case: using AI tools — as ways of achieving IMS Objectives.

15. Planning changes.

What constitutes a «change» in a QMS under DIS / ISO 9001:2026 and an EMS under ISO 14001:2026 — examples.

New requirements for change management in ISO 14001:2026 and DIS / ISO 9001:2026.

• Case: planning changes in the EMS and QMS.
• Mental trap: «Planning fallacy» and ways of minimising it.
• Continuous assessment: test on section 6 of ISO.

16. Resources.

Staff competence.

• Mental trap: the «Dunning-Kruger effect» and ways of minimising it.

Staff awareness — new requirements in DIS / ISO 9001:2026.

Communication: differences between the QMS and the EMS in communication.

• Case: internal and external communication in the EMS.

Documented information — analysis and explanation of the requirements.

The in-house knowledge base.

• Continuous assessment: test on section 7 of ISO.

17. Planning activities and managing them.

Overview of the requirements of DIS / ISO 9001:2026.

Detailed review of the requirements of ISO 14001:2026:

— establishing operational criteria;

— managing processes in accordance with those operational criteria.

• Case: establishing operational criteria and managing processes on the basis of them (linked to the previous case on defining EAs and evaluating significant EAs, clause 6.1).

Controlling and influencing external processes (a new requirement of ISO 14001:2026) — what is the difference: examples.

• Case: the type and degree of control and influence over external processes.

The importance of defining criteria at all stages of the product/ service life cycle.

• Case: managing a product at all stages of its life cycle (a life-cycle perspective).

18. Emergency preparedness and response.

Developing an Emergency Response Plan (ERP).

• Case: developing an ERP linked to the previous case on defining EAs and evaluating significant EAs, clause 6.1.
• Continuous assessment: test on section 8 of ISO.

Module 4: Evaluation, Audit and Improvement.

19. Performance evaluation.

What is the difference between monitoring, measurement, analysis and evaluation — examples.

• Case: monitoring and evaluation in the EMS linked to the previous case on defining EAs and evaluating significant EAs, clause 6.1.

20. Internal audit.

The PDCA cycle in internal audit.

The 7 principles of conducting internal audit in accordance with ISO 19011.

The main problems in conducting internal audit: requirements; their fulfilment; the level of nonconformity; a recommendation or a nonconformity? — and ways of resolving them.

The internal audit programme and new requirements in ISO 14001:2026 and DIS / ISO 9001:2026.

How to draw up the internal audit Programme based on the importance of the processes selected for audit, the results of previous internal audits, and changes affecting the organisation.

Setting the Objective for the internal audit.

• Case: drawing up the internal audit Programme in accordance with the new requirements of the standards.
• Case: developing a risk-based internal audit Plan.
• Case: automating internal audit: how AI helps to write reports and find nonconformities.

21. Management review.

The difference in input and output data in the EMS and QMS.

22. Improvements.

The difference in managing nonconformities and developing corrective actions (CA) in the EMS and QMS.

• Case: nonconformities and developing CAs in the EMS and QMS.

Suitability, adequacy and effectiveness of the EMS and QMS — explanations and examples.

• Case: increasing the suitability, adequacy and effectiveness of the EMS and QMS.
• Continuous assessment: test on sections 9 and 10 of ISO.

23. Group game «interactive review of requirements and situations from ISO».

Answers to questions.

Course completion.