Most organisations recognise that senior management is accountable for HSE and quality. Policies are approved, responsibilities assigned and performance reviewed. Nevertheless, these subjects are still frequently treated as specialist functions rather than integral parts of operational leadership.
The distinction becomes visible when priorities compete. Production, cost and schedule are treated as management decisions, while HSE concerns and quality deviations are referred to advisers. Specialists may coordinate the response, but they cannot take ownership of decisions that belong to operational management.
The new revision of ISO 9001 provides a useful opportunity to reconsider what leadership ownership means in practice.
A revised quality management standard
The sixth edition of ISO 9001 – Quality management systems — Requirements was published on 16 September 2026 and replaces ISO 9001:2015.
ISO explains that the revision is intended to keep the standard relevant to modern business needs and changing stakeholder expectations. The related ISO 9000:2026 – Quality management — Fundamentals and vocabulary was published in May and updates the concepts and terminology supporting the ISO 9000 family.
Leadership is already one of ISO’s seven quality management principles. The transition should therefore not be approached simply as a technical update for quality managers. It provides an opportunity to assess whether quality management is genuinely integrated into how the organisation is directed and controlled. The same question is relevant to HSE, particularly where the disciplines are managed through an integrated system.
Ownership is demonstrated through decisions
Practical ownership is not created by adding HSE and quality responsibilities to job descriptions. It is demonstrated through decisions.
Leaders create ownership when they ask how operational plans affect risk, whether resources are sufficient and whether agreed controls can be maintained under commercial or schedule pressure. They also create ownership by responding consistently when requirements are not met.
ISO 9001 addresses both risks and opportunities. This is an important balance. Management systems should not only prevent failure and maintain compliance. They should help organisations identify better ways of working, improve processes and make informed use of technology, competence and operational experience.
A change in suppliers, working methods or technology may create new risks, but it may also provide opportunities to improve quality, strengthen controls or increase operational reliability. Leadership responsibility is to consider both sides before making a decision.
This does not mean treating HSE risk as a commercial opportunity or accepting weaker controls in pursuit of benefit. It means identifying where change can produce better and safer performance while ensuring that uncertainty and possible consequences remain properly managed.
If managers accept repeated workarounds, overdue corrective actions or incomplete risk assessments, the organisation receives a clear message about actual priorities. The same applies when improvement opportunities are repeatedly identified but not evaluated or acted upon.
The role of specialist functions
HSE and quality professionals have an important role in interpreting requirements, developing systems, conducting assessments and providing independent advice. Problems arise when they also become responsible for operational performance.
An HSE adviser can facilitate a risk assessment, but the operational manager must decide how the risk will be controlled. A quality manager can identify a recurring non-conformity, but the process owner must ensure that the underlying weakness is addressed.
Clear separation between advice, assurance and operational ownership strengthens accountability. It also allows specialists to challenge the organisation without being expected to correct every problem they identify.
Management review should test ownership
Management review is one mechanism through which ISO 9001 connects the management system with leadership. In practice, these reviews can become presentations of audit results, complaints and performance indicators without sufficient discussion of what the information means.
An effective review should examine patterns, unresolved risks and opportunities for improvement. It should consider whether actions have been effective, whether changes have introduced new risks and whether the organisation has the competence and resources required.
Decisions should be assigned to the managers who control the relevant processes and resources. HSE and quality functions may advise and monitor progress, but responsibility for implementation should remain with operational leadership.
The transition to ISO 9001:2026 should therefore include more than a comparison of clauses and an update of documents. It should assess how leadership responsibility works in practice and whether risks and opportunities influence real decisions.
Bruncell Larsen Strategic Advisory supports organisations with management-system assessments, regulatory compliance, audits and clarification of leadership responsibilities for HSE and quality. If you would like assistance in assessing whether your organisation has established practical operational ownership, please contact me.
