Risk and opportunity procedure

ISO management system procedures and forms

Introduction and purpose

The purpose of the risk and opportunity procedure and forms is to help businesses define their risk and opportunity management framework and activities, including methodology, risk appetite, methods for training, reporting, and escalating risks.

Application and scope

The risk and opportunity procedure has been developed to assist in meeting the requirements of Clause 6.1 of ISO 9001:2026 (6.1.1 to 6.1.3), ISO 14001:2026 (including 6.1.4 Risks and opportunities), or ISO 45001:2018 - Actions to address risks and opportunities.

Risks and opportunities are defined as ‘something happening that may impact the achievement of the management system's objectives and the policy, and which can adversely affect the conformity of products and services or the effectiveness of your management system.' Risk-based thinking and risk and opportunity management should be central to any organization’s strategic management process.

The risk and opportunity procedure includes four essential form templates referenced from the procedure, supplied in .docx and .xlsx formats that can be retained as hard or soft copies.

Risk and opportunity register

Although risks and opportunities have to be determined and addressed, there is no requirement for a formal, documented risk management process. The risk and opportunity register will provide your organization with a consistent methodology to capture, assess, and prioritize strategic and operational risks and opportunities with respect to the management system.

Use the risk and opportunity register to capture and evaluate the full range of issues facing different areas of your business. Identifying risk is a critical step in managing it, and the risk and opportunity register allows your organization to assess the risk in context with your overall strategy and helps record the controls and treatments of those risks.

The risk and opportunity register uses pre and post-control indicators enabled by conditional formatting to compare the risk score to the defined risk exposure level. Based on the risk exposure indicators, the adjacent cells will display a proposed control action as per the risk assessment scoring worksheet.

Opportunity evaluation

Organizations can take advantage of new opportunities by building on current strengths, anticipating future trends, introducing new technology, developing new products or services, capturing and disseminating lessons learned, sharing and promoting good practices, opening new markets, and attracting new customers.

Taking or not taking an opportunity presents different levels of risk. To evaluate these risks, taking (or not taking) each opportunity is defined in the risk and opportunity register, and the associated risks are evaluated. ISO 9001:2026 now treats risks (6.1.2) and opportunities (6.1.3) as distinct, and they can be determined and addressed through separate processes. Even so, an opportunity can sometimes emerge from dealing with a risk, such as a risk that forces the implementation of a risk reduction measure that is beneficial in a broader context than just reducing a particular risk.

SWOT analysis

A SWOT analysis can uncover areas of the business that are holding you back or that your competitors could exploit if you do not protect yourself. Many criteria will apply to more than one quadrant in the matrix. Identify the criteria appropriate to your own situation. The relevance of internal climate change considerations should be captured in this document.

PESTLE analysis

A workshop approach is often best when undertaking a PESTLE analysis. Organizations should include climate change as an external issue in their PESTLE analysis and make a statement on its relevance. This should be discussed during management review meetings and recorded in the review meeting minutes.

The relevance of climate change issues will vary greatly depending on the size and sector of your organization, the products and services provided, its position in the supply chain, its geography, and the scope of your organization’s management system.

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Prepared using MS Office, the risk and opportunity procedure and forms are fully editable. Easily amend the headers, footers, text, turtle diagrams, process maps, and layout style to suit your business's formatting requirements.

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