ISO 19600, Compliance Management Systems – Guidelines, is a compliance standard introduced by the International Organization for Standardisation in April 2014. As its title suggests, it operates as an advisory standard and is not used for accreditation or certification.
ISO 19600:2014 provides guidance for establishing, developing, implementing, evaluating, maintaining, and improving an effective and responsive compliance management system within an organization.
The key topic areas covered are:
- Understanding the scope and context of the compliance management system
- Examining the crucial role played by the organization’s leadership
- Understanding the origin of compliance obligations
- Using compliance as a risk mitigation tool
- How to establish compliance objectives
- The use of training to raise awareness and embed a strong culture of compliance
- How to develop effective communication and supporting documentation
- Achieving organizational ownership of the compliance management system through the creation of management-led controls
- How best to monitor the effectiveness of the compliance framework
- What actions are necessary to ensure continual improvement of the compliance program.