ISO/IEC 17021-2 Updated – Environmental Auditing

ISO/IEC 17021-2, “Conformity assessment – Requirements for bodies providing audit and certification of management systems – Part 2: Competence requirements for auditing and certification of environmental management systems,” has just been updated.  Don’t be confused — The new edition is numbered the 1st Edition!  But it is a revision of the ISO/IEC TS 17021-2 from 2012.  This is because the document has a different designation now — It’s an ISO/IEC standard.  You can tell this because the “TS” (specifying that it was a Technical Specification) has been dropped from the number.

I previously blogged about the ISO/IEC TS 17021-2 when it was originally released back in 2012.  The ISO/IEC 17021-2 provides additional requirements for auditors who will be performing Environmental Management System (EMS) certification.  This is because there are some requirements in the ISO 14001 that need specific competencies to correctly assess conformance.  Of course, any auditor will already meet the requirements of the ISO/IEC 17021-1.

The ISO/IEC 17021-2 2016 Edition is a technical revision of the now-obsolete ISO/IEC TS 17021-2 2012 Edition.  What’s been changed?  First, new requirements found in the updated ISO 14001 2015 Edition means that there are new compentencies needed to audit for them.  Also, the ISO/IEC 17021-2 reflects the greater focus of the ISO 14001 itself on expected outcomes.  The difference between sustainable development and sustainability has been clarified.  There is more information on understanding the “context” of an organization.  And there are new competency requirements for audigint the reliability of client communications about their EMS.

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