Perhaps you have heard of ISO standards and seen companies with their certifications on documents, products, or vehicles.
Best Practice ISO certification is a best practice certification that demonstrates that a company has met the highest standards of quality and safety. This certification is recognized internationally, and it can help companies to win new customers and business partners. While not required, ISO certification can give your company a competitive edge.
What is the relevance of ISO?
ISO has moved beyond their Civil Engineering roots. There are almost 30,000 standards that cover everything, including quality, food safety, pharmaceuticals, and information security.
Who is ISO appropriate for?
It takes time and effort to get a certification. There are also ongoing costs for certification and maintenance. You must obtain it through an accredited certification body and follow strict regulations. Organisations with less than 15 employees would not normally be certified unless there are specific reasons or an industry. However, there are benefits to following the standards for all organisations.
Which five ISO standards are most popular?
ISO has thousands of international standards that cover dozens of industries. Some of their standards go beyond these borders. Let’s look at five of their most popular standards.
ISO 9001 Quality Management
This cornerstone specification is what all organisations need. The most recent ISO 9001 version is the one that you can get certified in.
This standard is used in a variety of industry cases. Although the system is often called a Quality Management System (QMS), it will contain business processes and procedures. However, in principle, the standard does exist to:
Assure that the services and products provided meet your requirements
Establish a system to monitor the effectiveness of your quality management system, its outputs, and processes and procedures that prevent non-conforming products or services from escaping.
Make sure that the roles and responsibilities of the management system and all its activities are clearly defined. Also, ensure that top management and stakeholders are held accountable for what they produce.
Incorporate a program of continuous improvement
ISO 27001 Information Security
We place a lot of information both in electronic and paper systems, both at work and in our personal lives. ISO 27001 is an information security management standard. It helps to protect:
Confidentiality is a way to limit access to information that an organization holds on file, and only allow authorized persons to do so.
Information Integrity: Ensuring that only authorized and trained personnel may make changes to records.
Information on Availability: Information that is available to authorized persons upon request.
ISO 44001 Collaborative work
In the past, a single organization would often design, construct, and deliver a project. Companies are becoming more global and specialized. Many projects will require the use of multiple entities to provide the output. ISO 44001 allows you to establish, manage and endorse agreed working practices. ISO 44001 is based on the core clauses in ISO 9001’s quality management principles.
- Planning, identifying benefits and creating a business case
- Develop a model of high quality
- Developing value
- Communication and awareness
- Monitoring and managing the relationship
- Exit strategy
