8.1.6 Externally provided processes, products and services
The draft replaces the 2018 procurement subclauses with a single 8.1.6, Externally provided processes, products and services, and replaces outsourcing with external provider. The public summaries report new requirements and some parts removed, with the detail still open to change.
The 2018 edition split procurement into general, contractors and outsourcing, at 8.1.4.1 to 8.1.4.3. The draft consolidates them into one clause and uses the term external provider. That is a change of structure and vocabulary, not a release from the duty to control what enters the workplace.
The public summaries describe a wider view of the supply chain, with more attention to the interfaces, communication and responsibilities between the organization and its external providers. The exact requirements can still change before publication, so the safe preparation is to keep the three-direction contractor assessment and add the external provider language.
The clause is also where the 2018 references will break. A contractor procedure that cites 8.1.4.2 will point at a clause that no longer exists in the draft structure. The crosswalk and the kit's reference update list cover this.
What an auditor is likely to ask for
- A register of external providers, the process or product supplied and the control retained
- OH&S criteria in selection and in the contract
- A hazard exchange with each provider before work starts
- Oversight records during the work, including the three directions of contractor risk
- Evidence that externally provided processes meet legal and other requirements
These are the records this site expects a reader to hold for the new duty. They are our reading, not draft text, and they will be checked against the published standard when it exists.
Where it commonly fails today
- Procurement has no OH&S gate before the order
- Contractors are selected on price and monitored only after an incident
- Outsourced processes are treated as outside the system
What to do now, while it is still a draft
Do not rebuild the system around a draft. Do the work that will be right under either edition: name the owner, write the process, keep the record, and put the clause reference on a list to update at publication. If the published text differs, the process survives the wording change.
Read the 2018 requirement it comes from Back to the clause map
Source for draft clause 8.1.6: the public DIS contents for the clause title, and the named certification-body summaries for the reported direction. The draft requirement text is not public and is not reproduced. Every source.