Clause 6.1: Actions to address risks and opportunities
The organization has to consider the issues from 4.1 and the requirements from 4.2, decide which risks and opportunities need action, plan the action, integrate it into the records processes and then check whether it worked.
What clause 6.1 asks
The organization has to consider the issues from 4.1 and the requirements from 4.2, decide which risks and opportunities need action, plan the action, integrate it into the records processes and then check whether it worked. In records terms the risks are loss, alteration, unauthorized access, unavailability, premature destruction, failure to capture and loss of meaning over time; the opportunities are better evidence, lower cost, faster retrieval and reusable information. The output has to be specific enough to change a control.
The risk clause should produce records scenarios, not generic corporate risks. Loss, alteration, unauthorized access, unavailability, premature destruction, failure to capture and loss of meaning over time are the risks this system exists to control.
Reading it in practice
The records risks that matter are rarely on the corporate risk register. Loss, alteration, unauthorized access, unavailability, premature destruction and failure to capture are the working list. Add the risk that a record loses its meaning because its metadata or its system context disappears. Each one should point to a control in Annex A.
The third edition is at stage 50.00 and its clause text is not public. No public statement. The 2019 edition carries the harmonized risk clause; the records-specific risks are named in the annex, not in this clause. The third edition's treatment is not public.
Status: not shown in the public record. The 2019 requirement above is the one a certificate is issued against. No draft requirement is asserted.
Evidence for clause 6.1
The auditor will trace one risk to a control and one opportunity to a decision. Expect a treatment plan with owners and a review of whether the treatment worked.
- Risk assessment Risk register or assessment with records scenarios, likelihood, impact and owner
- Risk assessment Treatment plan linked to the controls it changes and the date it is reviewed
- Risk assessment Evidence that the treatment was evaluated for effectiveness
Where clause 6.1 commonly fails
- A risk register copied from the corporate template with no records scenario
- Risk treatment recorded but never connected to a process or a system setting
What to do about clause 6.1 before the revision
Add five records scenarios to the risk register with likelihood, impact and owner. Connect each to a control in Annex A. Record one treatment decision and its effect.
Read across from clause 6.1
Open the full index. The revision record shows the public stage record and the proven 2011 to 2019 changes.
Source for clause 6.1: ISO 30301:2019, ISO 30301:2019, Clause 6.1, retrieved 22 October 2026. The requirement, evidence and gaps are written from our clause record; the draft status rests on the ISO/PRF 30301 page 89772. Every source.