ISO 9000 Compliance

ISO 9000 is a set of standards, a set of leadership and management criteria representing the ultimate in quality management. ISO 9000 is published by the International Organization for Standardization. The standards contained therein offer a framework for the management of every aspect of a business including social responsibility, protection of the environment, energy conservation, documentation and risk management.

The origins of the standard go back to 1959 and MIL-Q-9858, published by the UK Department of Defense. It evolved in 1969 into the NATO AQAP standards, which were further revised into the BS 5179 standards in 1974 and ultimately into BS 5750 in 1979 and ultimately submitted by the British Standards Institute (BSI) to the ISO.

The first ever BSI certification was awarded to the predecessor of a company that is now known as Tarmac. The certificate was awarded in 1978. At present, over seventy thousand sites in the world have been certified by the BSI.

The standards are elegant in their applicability to all types of organisation from small, independent companies to public utilities, multinational corporations or government agencies such as the military. It achieves this by clearly outlining the requirements that must be met by a quality management system without micro managing their implementation.

The grand daddy of international standards is ISO 9001:2008, Quality Management Systems - Requirements. Thirty pages in length, it is possible to obtain the document from the national standards organisation in every country. This is the only standard by which an organisation acquire certification.

The chief advantage for an organisation that is ISO 9000 compliant is that it helps attract new customers. It demonstrates to the world that your company has been audited and certified to the ultimate standard of quality management. Certification provides unequivocal evidence that a business entity is capable of maintaining and documenting quality management. It is an internationally recognised stamp of approval.

So we can see that gaining ISO certification or accreditation can be very beneficial for your business. Not only is it great in attracting new clients, but getting certified also signals to you staff, share holders, suppliers and other third party stakeholders that you are serious about adopting best practice management systems within your organisation.

There are many companies out there that provide ISO 9001 certification services, but as with all things - make sure you do this properly. Avoid firms that offer to fast track your accreditation process, as often the resulting certificate you get will not be worth the paper it's written on.


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The author regularly writes articles about ISO standards, and also creates content related to the business management field. For extra reading on this subject please visit http://www.hpa.co.uk



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