Dr. Bruno Bruehwiler
In recent months representatives from the Swiss delegation of ISO TC 262 on risk management have been pressing for ISO 31000 to be re-written as a standard designed for third party certification. The effort was led by Switzerland’s Dr. Bruno Bruehwiler of the consulting firm Eurorisk, and supported by the French representative Rodolphe Civet of AFNOR.
The move did not gain traction with other TC 262 representatives, leading the Swiss to develop an alternative standard called “Management of Risk: Reducing Uncertainty and Enhancing Resilience.” In correspondence obtained by Oxebridge, Bruehwiler is quoted as openly saying the standard would “compete” with ISO 31000. The new standard was planned as being built on Annex SL and classified as a Type A management system standard, designed for certification.
An official New Work Item Proposal (NWIP) was submitted by the Swiss standards body in July; Bruehwiler had previously hinted at the NWIP’s pending release, but failed to indicate that it would be proposed by his country’s national standards body, prompting some in TC 262 to question why he did not disclose a conflict of interest.
Oxebridge has furthermore learned that the Chair of the Swiss mirror committee on risk management, INB NK 198, is Dr. Alexander Jaecklin, Jaecklin is a partner in Bruehwiler’s private consulting firm Eurorisk Ltd, which is also promoted on the website of the certification body TUV-NORD. Both Eurorisk and TUV-NORD would stand to gain financially by offering certification, training and consulting to any eventual risk management system standard.
Numerous certification bodies are anxious to offer ISO 31000 or similar risk management certifications. In 2012, TC 262 Secretary Mick Maghar attempted to use an obscure interpretation of an obscure ISO rule to have the sentence “this standard is not intended for the purpose of certification” removed from ISO 31000. Maghar works for BSI, which later issued the first known “statement of compliance” to Tata Motors. Since then a number of CBs have joined BSI in offering ISO 31000 certifications, including SGS, SAI Global and International Certifications Ltd.
The new standard would have introduced yet another definition for the term “risk”, defining it as the “effect of uncertainty on objectives, activities and requirements.” ISO has faced embarrassment and ridicule as a standards organization for being unable to standardize the term; currently ISO is estimated to have over 40 definitions of the term, spread out over 140 standards. Many of the definitions contradict one another.
NWIP Downgraded, Withdrawn… Reborn?
The NWIP was not accompanied by a mandatory “justification study” per ISO Directives, and as a result had to be downgraded to a “Preliminary Work Item” (PWI) by Secretary Maghar. The downgrade represented a significant blow to the Bruehwiler camp; in apparent defiance, Bruehwiler continued to reference the document as a “NWIP” and insisted there would be separate discussions on the two opposing standards at the coming Working Group meeting in Rio de Janeiro in November. This forced Maghar to remind Bruehwiler that only the Technical Committee could discuss pending work items, not a subordinate Working Group.
Moments ago, Oxebridge received confirmation that the Swiss member body has withdrawn the proposal entirely. The withdrawal notice is dated September 2.
Immediately thereafter, a flurry of emails were exchanged between Bruehwiler, Maghar and others. Bruehwiler has reportedly taken a defiant posture, claiming the November meeting in Rio would now include a discussion of two full Design Specifications — one for the ISO 31000 revision, and one for the competing standard. This move would defy ISO directives, which disallow such topics to be discussed by Working Groups. It is also not clear how Bruehwiler’s camp could produce a full Design Specification for their standard in such a short time.
Events are unfolding rapidly, and this article will be updated as new information comes in.
Oxebridge is working on extensive reporting on the development activities surrounding the new ISO 31000 revision, as well as the internal conflicts within TC 262 which threaten to split the group.
Christopher Paris is the founder and VP Operations of Oxebridge. He has over 30 years’ experience implementing ISO 9001 and AS9100 systems, and helps establish certification and accreditation bodies with the ISO 17000 series. He is a vocal advocate for the development and use of standards from the point of view of actual users. He is the writer and artist of THE AUDITOR comic strip, and is currently writing a pulp novella called DR. CUBA.
