Context of the organization and risks in ISO 14001

Answer:

Internal and external issues represents any kind of impact on your environmental management system. For example, internal issues are company's organizational structure, culture, processes, type of the technology or raw materials used in the production or service delivery process, etc. External issues are the ones coming from outside the company, e.g. environmental conditions in the region where your company is, environmental legislation, requirements of the local community, environmentalists, etc. For more information about context of the organization, see: Determining the context of the organization in ISO 14001 https://advisera.com/14001academy/knowledgebase/determining-the-context-of-the-organization-in-iso-14001/

Regarding clause 6.1.1, ISO 14001 requires organization to determine risks and opportunities related to environmental aspects, compliance obligations and internal and external issues. Such risks and opportunities need to be identified on global level of the organization which means that the top management must be included in the process. The standard does not require organizations to use some methodology so the most simple way to address this clause is to arrange a brainstorming session involving all relevant people in the company and discuss risks and opportunities and the risks and opportunities identified need to be documented and some actions to address them should be proposed. For more information, see: Risks and opportunities in ISO 14001:2015 – What they are and why they are important https://advisera.com/14001academy/blog/2016/03/07/risks-and-opportunities-in-iso-140012015-what-they-are-and-why-they-are-important/