Integrated Management Systems (IMS)

An integrated management system brings that down to one coherent structure: shared processes for document control, internal audit and management review, with standard-specific requirements layered in only where they differ. The result is less duplicated effort, a lighter audit burden and a system that is easier to keep current, because there is only one of it to maintain.

Common combinations

The most common pairing is ISO 9001 with ISO 14001, and the 2026 editions of both are more closely aligned than their predecessors. ISO 45001 for health and safety and ISO 27001 for information security integrate just as naturally once the core structure is built to be standard-agnostic, and ISO 22301 and ISO 44001 follow the same pattern.

What gets shared

Integration starts with the common core every ISO management system standard shares through the Harmonized Structure: context of the organisation, leadership, planning, support, operation, performance evaluation and improvement. Because these clauses follow the same structure across standards, they can be run as one set of processes rather than duplicated per standard. That single structural fact is what makes integration worthwhile rather than merely neat in theory.

What stays distinct

What does not get merged matters just as much. Each standard has requirements of its own: environmental aspects and impacts for ISO 14001, information security risk treatment and the Statement of Applicability for ISO 27001, hazard identification and worker consultation for ISO 45001. These stay distinct within the integrated structure rather than being forced into a shared template, because merging requirements that differ usually produces a system that satisfies neither standard well.

Consolidating existing systems

For organisations already running separate systems, integration is usually a consolidation project rather than a rebuild. Hillscom starts by reviewing what is in place: which procedures differ between standards and which are near-duplicates, which records are kept twice for no good reason, and where separate audit schedules could become a single programme. This groundwork usually reveals more duplication than expected, and more opportunity to simplify. The merge then happens without losing anything that currently works.

For new systems, the structure is implemented as integrated from day one, which is simpler and cheaper than retrofitting later.

The benefit after go-live

The benefit that matters most is not the initial build but what happens afterwards. One audit schedule means fewer disruptions to operations. One management review covers every standard in a single sitting instead of three meetings covering much of the same ground. When a process changes, it is updated once, not once per standard it touches.

Certification changes too. An accredited certification body can typically audit an integrated system in a combined visit, sampling across all the standards in one programme, which reduces the audit days you host each year. It also means assessors hear one consistent account across every standard, rather than separate narratives maintained by different people that occasionally contradict each other. For a growing business, that consistency matters more over time as standards and stakeholders are added.

Get in touch to discuss integrating your existing systems.