Context in ISO 9001

ISO 9001:2015 introduced the concept of "context".

Context is divided into two groups: Stakeholders and Relationships.

In the stakeholder group, we can place people or groups of people who, for one reason or another, have an interest in the business or in parts of the business. This could be shareholders, employees, neighbors or a political party.

In the group for conditions, we can place impersonal factors that affect the business itself internally, in the local environment and international relations. These can be currency fluctuations, average age of employees, the competence situation, political fluctuations, framework conditions given in politics and so on.
At the same time, it is important to remember that what is appropriate to include in these two different categories varies depending on the type of business you are in.

Why was context added to the standard?

The main point of this addition to the standard is that companies now need to look up and see which and how different factors can affect their business. There are very different ways in which companies work with context mapping. Some have set it up once and then not thought about the fact that this is an area that is affected by change and needs to be adjusted. Others may have it on their to-do list – but never find the time in a travel everyday life.

Context and risk assessments

In Manage you can easily link a scenario to one or more contexts. In this way, context becomes part of the overall picture and a piece of the backdrop when defining your company's risks.