Integrated Management Systems Consultant

What is an Integrated Management System?

An Integrated Management System (IMS) combines two or more ISO management system standards into a single, unified system — rather than maintaining separate QMS, EMS, and OH&S documentation and processes in parallel. The most common integration is ISO 9001 (Quality) + ISO 14001 (Environment) + ISO 45001 (Occupational Health & Safety), though integrations also include ISO 27001, ISO 28000, and other standards.

The business case for integration rests on a simple observation: these standards share a common high-level structure (ISO Annex SL) — the same framework for policy, context, objectives, operational planning, performance evaluation, and management review. An organisation running three separate management systems has three policy documents, three internal audit programmes, three management reviews, and three sets of corrective-action processes, often with the same people doing the same things three times. Integration eliminates this duplication.

Integration does not mean diluting any standard's requirements. Each standard's specific requirements — quality controls in ISO 9001, environmental aspects in ISO 14001, hazard identification in ISO 45001 — are fully addressed. Integration means sharing the administrative and governance infrastructure so that management reviews, internal audits, and document control serve all three simultaneously.

Who needs it?

• Companies already certified to two or more ISO standards experiencing audit fatigue and administrative overhead
• Organisations planning to implement multiple ISO standards simultaneously and wanting to build one integrated system from the start
• Manufacturers whose customers require both quality and environmental or safety certification
• Companies undergoing surveillance or recertification audits finding the overhead of separate systems burdensome
• Organisations with lean management teams who cannot sustain three parallel management systems

Benefits of an Integrated Management System

• Reduced audit overhead — combined internal audits, surveillance audits, and management reviews reduce the total number of audit days and management time required each year
• Consistent documentation — one document-control system, one corrective-action process, one internal audit framework for all standards
• Holistic risk management — quality, environmental, and OH&S risks are assessed within a single risk framework, enabling trade-off analysis and avoiding conflicting controls
• Staff clarity — employees deal with one integrated management system rather than three separate, sometimes conflicting, sets of requirements
• Certification body efficiency — many accredited certification bodies offer combined audits for integrated systems, reducing total certification cost
• Faster new standard addition — when you add a new standard (e.g., ISO 27001) to an existing IMS, the integration work is incremental, not a full new system build

Our process — from kickoff to certificate in 4 steps

1. Gap Analysis. We assess your existing management system(s) and identify what exists, what is missing per each standard, and how the standards' requirements can be integrated. We produce an IMS architecture proposal and implementation roadmap.
2. Documentation. We develop a unified IMS documentation structure — integrated policy, context and interested-party analysis, combined risk and opportunity register (covering quality, environmental, and OH&S risks), unified objectives framework, and integrated operational procedures where appropriate.
3. Implementation & Training. We train your management team and internal auditors on the integrated system, consolidate separate audit programmes into one, and run a combined internal audit covering all applicable standards.
4. Certification Audit Support. We prepare you for combined or sequential certification audits covering all standards in scope, and support corrective-action resolution.

What you'll get

• Integrated Management System manual covering all standards in scope
• Unified context analysis, interested-party analysis, and risk register
• Integrated policy and objectives framework
• Combined document and record control procedures
• Consolidated internal audit programme (one programme, all standards)
• Combined management review framework and agenda
• Standard-specific procedures for requirements unique to each standard
• Trained internal auditors competent across all integrated standards
• Certification audit accompaniment

Why RKM for Integrated Management Systems

RKM is unusual among management-system consultancies in that we hold deep expertise across the full range of standards that typically feature in an IMS — quality (ISO 9001, IATF 16949), environment (ISO 14001), safety (ISO 45001), security (ISO 27001, ISO 28000), and food safety (ISO 22000). This breadth means we design integrations that work across all applicable standards, not just the two most common.

We've built integrated systems for Indonesian manufacturers holding combinations of ISO 9001, ISO 14001, ISO 45001, and ISO 27001, and we know from experience which elements integrate most efficiently and which need to remain standard-specific to satisfy certification auditors.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can all ISO management system standards be integrated? Standards based on the Annex SL high-level structure — ISO 9001, ISO 14001, ISO 45001, ISO 27001, ISO 28000, ISO 20000 — can all be integrated because they share the same framework. Standards with sector-specific structures (IATF 16949, ISO 13485, ISO 22000) can be partially integrated, sharing common elements while maintaining sector-specific documentation separately.

Does integration affect the certification audit process? Many accredited certification bodies offer combined audits for integrated systems — this reduces total audit days and travel costs. Others audit each standard separately even for integrated systems. We advise on certification body selection based on your integration scope and budget.

Can we integrate systems that were built at different times by different consultants? Yes — this is one of our most common scenarios. We audit your existing systems, rationalise documentation, and build integration bridges between what you have, rather than starting from scratch.

Does integration require all standards to be certified by the same certification body? No, though using one certification body for all standards simplifies scheduling and often reduces cost through combined audits. We advise on the options during the scoping process.

How long does IMS implementation take? If implementing all standards simultaneously from scratch, allow 8–14 months. If integrating existing certified systems, the timeline depends on the gap between current documentation structures and integrated-system requirements — typically 3–6 months for rationalisation and integration.

Is there a specific ISO standard for Integrated Management Systems? There is no certifiable standard for an IMS itself — certification is always against individual standards (ISO 9001, ISO 14001, etc.). However, ISO published PAS 99 and guidance documents on integrated management, and the Annex SL structure was specifically designed to facilitate integration.

Can we add ISO 27001 to an existing ISO 9001 + ISO 14001 + ISO 45001 IMS? Yes. ISO 27001 also uses the Annex SL structure and integrates well with existing IMS infrastructure. We assess the gap, add ISO 27001-specific documentation (asset register, risk assessment, Statement of Applicability, Annex A controls), and integrate the ISMS into your existing combined internal audit and management review cycle.