The ISO 55000 Asset Management Standard has been released. The discipline of asset management is a buzz. Will this standard take on the same significance as past standards, like ISO 9000? Will regulators, investors, insurers, and owners begin to require ISO 55000 compliance?
Consider the desire to avoid incidents such as:
-Freedom Industries and the 48,000-gallon tanks leaking MCHM and PPH into the water source for 300,000 West Virginians
-BP and the death of 11 people and the 206 million gallons of oil that leaked into the GOM over a period of three months.
ISO 55000 is the first international standard that establishes requirements for the governance of a risk-based asset management system. It is designed to extract and optimize the value assets deliver in achieving organizational goals.
We will spend some time over the next few blog posts talking about what the standard requires and how to implement it. It starts with leadership. Leaders are required to demonstrate active and visible support, guidance, and resources.
The ISO 55000 overview states, “Top management should create the vision and values that guide policy, practice and actively promote these values inside and outside the organization.” (2.5.3.3)
Clause 5 of the ISO 55001 Requirements describes three requirements of leadership.
1 - “demonstrate leadership and commitment with respect to the asset management system” (5.1)
2 – “establish an asset management policy” (5.2)
3 – “responsibilities and authorities for relevant roles are assigned and communicated” (5.3)
ISO 55000 requires changes in policy, processes and people. This is a large scale change that can only be achieved through active and visible sponsorship by senior leaders.
