Integrated quality and safety · ISO 9001 with ISO 45001
ISO 9001 and ISO 45001 consulting: quality and safety in one system.
Quality and occupational health and safety share the harmonised structure, the same people on site and often the same root causes. Sterling builds them as one system: one policy framework, one risk method, one internal audit and one management review, with each standard’s specific requirements added where they belong.
- Start from nothing, or merge the separate quality and safety systems and certificates you already hold into one
- One engagement team, one Effivity workspace and one all-inclusive proposal for the whole programme
- The Sterling Promise: 100% on-time completion, 100% success, 8,100+ client engagements. Sterling does not certify; an accredited body audits and decides
- One system for the siteQuality checks and safety controls in the same routines, records and toolbox talks.
- Shared root-cause analysisOne nonconformity and incident process, so a quality defect and a near miss are investigated the same way.
- One audit calendarOne integrated certification audit, each finding traced to its standard.
- Room for ISO 14001Environment can be added later on the same core, completing a QHSE system.
Standards in this programme
Quality and occupational health and safety on one core.
ISO 9001 and ISO 45001 share their clause structure for context, leadership, planning, support, evaluation and improvement. ISO 45001 adds requirements ISO 9001 does not have, such as the consultation and participation of workers, hazard identification, the hierarchy of controls and incident investigation, so those are built carefully rather than copied from the quality system.
The engagement, step by step
One plan that builds the shared core once, then adds ISO 45001.
Every Sterling engagement runs on Sterling OS™: five stages, each with deliverables, decision owners and a weekly working session with your engagement team. Integration work sits under Revise™, the part of Sterling OS™ for new standard integration and multi-standard integrated management systems, delivered at the Design™ or the Drive™ level of support.
- 01
Scope and integration map
At the startWhat happens
We confirm each standard and edition, the activities and sites, and any certificates you already hold, with their bodies and audit dates. Then every requirement is reviewed once and sorted: common to all your standards, shared by some, or specific to one. What already works is kept as the base.
You receive
- Agreed scope for each standard and for the integrated system
- Integration map of common, shared and standard-specific requirements, with the gaps
- Implementation plan with owners, milestones and a single audit calendar
Your side
A project owner with authority across quality, HSE, IT or energy, and the owners of any existing systems at the table.
- 02
Build the common core
Early in the programmeWhat happens
The elements every standard requires are written once with your managers: context and interested parties, one policy framework, one method for risks and opportunities, objectives, document control, competence, communication, internal audit, management review, and nonconformity and corrective action. The 2024 climate amendments to clause 4.1 of ISO 45001, ISO/IEC 27001, ISO 50001 and others are answered once.
You receive
- Integrated manual or system description, cross-referenced to each standard
- One set of core procedures and registers, running in Effivity
- Awareness e-learning for your people from Sterling Academy
Your side
Managers agreeing one way of working where each system used to have its own.
- 03
Add each discipline's requirements
Alongside the coreWhat happens
Each standard then adds only what is specific to it: quality planning and control of outputs for ISO 9001, and hazard identification, the hierarchy of controls, worker consultation and participation, and incident investigation for ISO 45001.
You receive
- Discipline registers: aspects, hazards, information security risks or energy uses, as your scope requires
- Operational procedures that cover every applicable standard in one place
- Records in Effivity with the evidence tagged to each standard
Your side
Process owners in the weekly session, and the combined procedures put into daily use.
- 04
Integrated internal audit and management review
Before the certification auditWhat happens
One internal audit programme covers every standard, with auditors competent in the disciplines they audit and each finding traced to the standard or standards it concerns. A finding against a common element is corrected once, for the whole system. The management review then takes the inputs each standard requires in a single meeting that records decisions and actions.
You receive
- Integrated audit programme, checklists and report
- Management review record covering the inputs of every standard in scope
- Certification body proposals compared and accreditation checked for each standard
Your side
Management in the review, and your trained auditors on the audit.
- 05
Integrated certification audit
The audit windowWhat happens
An accredited certification body plans an audit of the integrated system: it works out the audit time for each standard, adjusts it for how far the system is integrated and for its complexity, and traces each finding in the report to its standard. Certificates held with different bodies or on different cycles are brought together as agreed with the body.
You receive
- Stage 1 and Stage 2 preparation for standards new to certification, and for any scope extension
- Support with the response to findings until the body decides
- The Sustain™ calendar: one cycle of surveillance, internal audit and review for the whole system
Your side
Your people doing their jobs as usual, answering for every discipline they work in.
Who does what
Choose how much of the work Sterling carries.
Design™ gives your team the structure, templates, workshops and coaching to integrate the systems itself. Drive™ has Sterling consultants carry the integration work with your system owners. They are alternatives, not phases: the software, the training, the accountability and the all-inclusive proposal work the same way in both.
| Task | Design™ guided | Drive™ fully managed |
|---|---|---|
| Scope, integration map and plan | Sterling with your system owners | Sterling with your system owners |
| Common core: policy, risk method, document control | Together your team drafts on Sterling's templates, Sterling reviews | Sterling with your managers |
| Merging existing procedures and records | Your team coached in the weekly session | Sterling consolidated from your current systems |
| Discipline registers: aspects, hazards, security risks, energy uses | Your team coached discipline by discipline | Sterling populated with your data |
| Effivity configuration and data migration | Sterling one workspace for every standard | Sterling one workspace for every standard |
| Putting the combined controls into daily use | Your team with guidance in the weekly session | Your team Sterling checks the evidence |
| Integrated internal audit | Together your trained auditors, Sterling facilitates | Sterling conducted for you across every standard |
| Management review | Your management Sterling prepares the inputs | Your management Sterling prepares and facilitates |
| Certification decision for each standard | The independent, accredited certification body never Sterling | |
Which model suits you? Where a quality, HSE or IT lead can give the integration some hours each week, Design™ is the usual choice. Where several mature systems must be merged against a deadline, or nobody has that time, Drive™ is. The discovery call settles it.
What you receive
Everything the programme needs. Nothing charged separately.
- Integration map and gap analysis reportEvery requirement of ISO 9001, ISO 45001, sorted into common, shared and specific, with each shortfall given an owner and a date.
- Implementation plan and audit calendarMilestones, responsibilities, the weekly sessions and one target window for the certification audit.
- Integrated system documentationOne manual or system description, core and discipline procedures, forms and records on Sterling's template sets, cross-referenced to the clauses of each standard.
- Effivity workspace, configuredDocuments, registers, audits, actions, training and management review for every standard in one place, included at no additional cost.
- Trained peopleAwareness e-learning for everyone, practitioner learning for system owners and internal auditor training for your audit team, as applicable to your standard, with Certificates of Completion.
- Integrated internal audit and reviewOne audit programme, checklists and report with findings traced to each standard, corrective actions closed on evidence and one management review record.
- Certification readinessBodies compared and their accreditation checked for each standard, audit arrangements agreed with the body, and support until each certificate is issued.
- The Sustain™ calendarA year-ahead plan for surveillance, internal audits, refreshers, new-hire training and edition transitions across every standard.
Effivity · included with the engagement
Your system runs in software from the first workshop.
Effivity is the ISO and GRC automation platform built by the Sterling group and used in 50+ countries. Your consultant configures it within the agreed scope, so evidence accumulates as people do their work and the certification auditor reviews a live system rather than a binder. Sterling consulting clients get their subscription included with the engagement, at no additional cost.
ISO & GRC softwareSterling Academy · included with the engagement
Your people learn the standard, not just the forms.
E-learning with practice checkpoints, a final exam and a numbered Certificate of Completion for each learner, verifiable online, with progress by department for the certification audit. Sterling consulting clients get preferential course access and special pricing, including complimentary awareness training for their people as part of the engagement.
Contact us about Academy accessHow we price
One all-inclusive proposal. Every component visible. No surprises, ever.
The investment in an integrated system depends on which standards are in scope, which are already implemented or certified, how far your existing systems overlap, the sites, the headcount and the current maturity of your processes. That is why every Sterling proposal is built for your organisation rather than read from a price list. The way the proposal works stays the same.
- One all-inclusive proposal for Sterling's work, software and learning. Consulting, Effivity and Sterling Academy access in one figure; the fee does not move when the work takes longer than we planned.
- Certification-body fees identified separately. The body's audit days, travel and surveillance arrangements are shown as their own line, so the full programme cost is comparable across proposals.
- Payment milestones tied to deliverables, not to the calendar: the gap analysis report, the documented system, the internal audit, the certificate.
- Deliverables, responsibilities, assumptions and exclusions in writing, and nothing to sign to receive the proposal.
To prepare your proposal we need
- The standards in scope, and which of them you already hold certificates for
- The certification bodies and audit dates of any current certificates
- The activities and sites to be covered
- Approximate headcount
- Your deadline, or the customer or tender date behind it
That is enough for a scoped, all-inclusive proposal from a Sterling consultant in your region. There is no need to prepare a manual first.
Request a scoped proposalA Sterling consultant replies within one working day.
Don’t be fooled by certification scams
Sterling against the alternatives.
The market offers four ways to a certificate. Three of them leave you with a system that does not run, a certificate that fails a customer's check, or both. This is what each route actually gives you.
| What you get | Template kit, do it yourself | "Certified in 10 days" seller | Body-shopping consultant | Sterling |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| A system built around your operation | Only if your team has the time and the expertise | No: a template with your name on it | Depends on the individual assigned | Yes, with your process owners, on Sterling's template sets |
| Your people trained | Not included | Not included | Sometimes, at extra cost | Included: awareness, practitioner and internal auditor training |
| Software to run the system | Paid for separately | None | Paid for separately | Effivity, included at no additional cost |
| Internal audit and management review before the audit | If you know how | A formality, if at all | Usually | Always, with findings closed on evidence |
| Certificate from an accredited body | Your choice | Often not accredited, or not for your scope | Usually | Always: accreditation checked before you sign |
| Who is accountable if the audit goes badly | You | Nobody | The individual, if still available | Sterling, under the Sterling Promise, until you are certified |
| Fee transparency | Kit price only | One invoice for consulting and certificate | Day rates, open-ended | One all-inclusive proposal; certification-body fees shown separately |
| After the certificate | On your own | Gone | Another contract | Sustain™: surveillance, internal audits, refreshers, transitions |
Sterling's position. Sterling does not certify. We consult, train and prepare you; an independent, accredited body audits and decides. We do not sell certificates without implementation, and we tell you when an offer you have received is one. All ten warning signs of shortcut certification · How to check any ISO certificate
Client experience
On the record: what clients say about working with Sterling.
For AICI, a growing organisation, putting in place the systems and processes needed for certification was an important milestone. The firm began in late June and achieved certification in mid-September. Its director writes that Sterling's practical guidance and support were valuable in moving through the process within a relatively short timeframe, while establishing management systems appropriate to the firm's business and operations.
GEDI Construction Development says it was impressed with Sterling's consulting team, which it found very efficient, knowledgeable and expert in ISO standards, with a professional approach throughout the project. The team made it easier for the company to understand the ISO quality, health, safety and environmental standards, and clarified where its management priorities should lie going forward.
CHEC Construction's ISO manager writes that the company is pleased with the implementation approach of Sterling's consulting team, which guided it to achieve close integration of its existing systems with the additional requirements of the ISO 9001, ISO 14001 and ISO 45001 standards.
ZTE Philippines' management representative and ISO project manager observed that Sterling's consulting team brought deep domain knowledge, expertise in ISO standards and a professional approach to the project, and made the complex-sounding ISO quality, health, safety and environmental standards simple and easy for the company's team.
Each account is drawn from a signed letter or e-mail on file and reported in our words, with the signatory's role and organisation attached; the original letters are available on request. Ask for references in your sector before you decide.
- 60+countries where Sterling has delivered certification
- 21countries with a Sterling office, eight regions, one coordinated team
- 2003the year the group began implementing ISO management systems; the same method, refined, since
- 8,100+client engagements across the group, from single-site SMEs to multinationals
FAQs
Questions clients ask about ISO 9001 + ISO 45001.
The answers for your own scope come from the discovery call. These are the questions most programmes begin with.
Why combine quality and safety rather than adding environment?
Many service, logistics and manufacturing businesses are asked for quality and safety first; environment follows when customers or tenders ask. The integrated core lets ISO 14001 be added later without rebuilding the system.
Does ISO 45001 need worker participation that ISO 9001 does not?
Yes. ISO 45001 requires consultation and participation of non-managerial workers in specific decisions, such as identifying hazards and investigating incidents. We design that into meetings and records so it is evidenced, not assumed.
Do we get one certificate or two?
That depends on the certification body: some issue one certificate naming both standards, others one each. We check each is accredited for its standard and your scope before you sign.
How long does the programme take?
It depends on the frameworks in scope, which you already hold, the systems and sites, and for a SOC 2 Type 2 report the length of the period your customers expect. The discovery call gives you a dated plan for your scope; there is no fixed number we can reliably promise in advance.
Keep exploring
Other integrated programmes
Watch a video on implementing ISO 9001 and ISO 45001 together here.
Programmes clients combine most often
Talk to a consultant
Plan ISO 9001 + ISO 45001 as one programme.
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