ISO migration deadlines extended

Deadlines for all upcoming transitions and migrations of international management system standards have been extended by six months, giving organisations more time to make sure their management systems are compliant with the updates.

The International Accreditation Forum has confirmed the extensions in light of the Coronavirus pandemic, ensuring that final transition audits are not due for a further six months. The migration audit will be carried out partially or totally remote, in line with guidelines.

The changes apply to: 

• ISO 22000: 2018 Food Management Systems, the first international standard for implementation of a certified food safety management system. The initial three-year transition period has been extended to 31 December 2021. To ensure all clients have the new certificate by the deadline date, all Bureau Veritas transition audits will be completed before 31 August 2021.
• ISO 45001: 2018 Occupational Health & Safety, the first standard to provide a comprehensive framework for management systems addressing occupational health and safety issues, which replaces OHSAS 18001. The transition period for migrating accredited certifications from OHSAS 18001:2007 to ISO 45001:2018 has been extended to 30 September 2021. The audit for migration can be done using remote auditing techniques. To ensure all clients have the new certificate by the deadline, from March 2021 all of the health and safety audits will be delivered against ISO45001:2018 requirements and all migration audits will be completed before 30 June 2021.
• ISO 50001: 2018 Energy Management Systems, the first update in seven years, which has had its deadline extended to 31 January 2022.
• ISO 22301: 2019 Business Continuity Management Systems, which has also been extended until 30 April 2023.
• Food Safety System Certification (FSSC) 22000, FSSC has extended the deadline to upgrade to the new version 5 standard from 31st December 2020 to 31st March 2021.

Maribel Pena, Technical Manager for Certification at Bureau Veritas said: “As an accredited body with a reputation for service excellence and a dedicated Certification team, we have been in a position to support clients with their transition to the new and updated standards well ahead of the previous deadlines.

“However, these deadline extensions will give some welcome breathing space for organisations who are not yet working towards the new standards across Occupational Health & Safety and Energy Management. Particularly bearing in mind the challenges faced as a result of COVID-19.

“Our team has been supporting clients during pandemic through remote Management System Audits, helping to maintain the validity of accredited certifications where possible, without compromising the safety of client staff or Bureau Veritas auditors.

“Now, with these new dates in mind, we will continue to work in partnership with clients to guide them through to transition before the required deadlines.”