Why ISO 50001:2018 Can be Implemented with ISO 9001 and Other Management System Standards

You can implement ISO 50001:2018 with other management system standards. Changes to the revision have made this easier.

ISO 50001:2018 – Energy management systems – Requirements with guidance for use was just released. The timing of this standard revision was certainly fortunate, as energy reduction and improved energy efficiency are at the forefront of current efforts to combat climate change. ISO 50001 has also demonstrated its significance in recent years. In fact, a total of 20,216 certificates to ISO 50001 were issued by the end of 2016.

Like its predecessor, ISO 50001:2018 aims to enable organizations, regardless of industry or size, to establish the systems and processes necessary to continually improve energy performance, including energy efficiency, energy use, and energy consumption. It does this by specifying the guidelines for establishing, implementing, maintaining, and improving an energy management system (EnMS).

Such a system might seem familiar to users of ISO 9001 or ISO 14001. These similarities are, in fact, founded in reality, as ISO 50001 is a management system standard. ISO 9001, which specifies the minimum guidelines for establishing and implementing a quality management system, kicked off the general nonprescriptive and widely-applicable format for ISO management system standards when in was first published back in 1987.

In the decades following its initial publication, ISO 9001 saw several revisions, and several other management system standards were released to help users enhance processes throughout many industries. By the time ISO 50001 was first published in 2011, there existed numerous ISO management system standards, and they shared many similarities simply by the virtue of providing the minimum guidelines for a specific management system.

However, over the past several years, management system standards have incorporated changes to intentionally better align them with one another. This began with the publication of ISO 9001:2015 and has continued with several others since.

Among its changes, ISO 50001:2018 adopted ISO’s requirements for management system standards. This includes the high-level structure, identical core text, and common terms and definitions. By revising the energy management systems standard with these alterations, the international document now shares an overarching format with other management system standards, which makes it easier to comply with the guidelines of multiple standards.

ISO 50001:2018 also contains some less-overt changes that we’ve seen in other management system standards. For example, the 2018 revision of the energy management systems standard places a greater emphasis on the role of top management and includes the Plan-Do-Check-Act (PDCA) Cycle model for assessing continual improvement.

In case you were wondering whether ISO 50001:2018 could be used in tandem with other management system standards like ISO 9001:2015, ISO 14001:2015, and ISO 45001:2018, the answer is yes. In fact, the inclusion of changes similar to those made to these existing ISO management system standards now makes it easier than ever before to enrich and fortify an organization’s processes in the pursuit of quality, sustainability, and safety.

ISO 50001:2018 was developed by the ISO technical committee ISO/TC 301, Energy management and energy savings, whose secretariat is held jointly by ANSI and SAC, ISO’s member for China.

ISO 50001:2018 – Energy management systems – Requirements with guidance for use is available on the ANSI Webstore. You can also get this standard as part of the ISO 50001 / ISO 9001 / ISO 14001 – Energy Quality and Environmental Management Systems Package.