ISO (International Organization for Standardisation) is a non-governmental organization that determinesguidlines for products, services and systems for quality and efficiency. The organisation promotes worldwide proprietary, industrial, and commercial standards. It works in 164 countries worldwide. Their utmost goal is to enhance industrial welfare worldwide increasing the levels of safety and security for all.
It is the world's best known quality management system. It ensures that goods and services consistently meet the customer requirements.
This focuses on reducing work place hazards and make sure everyone gets home safely.
It provides assurance to management, employees and stakeholders that the environmental impact of the company is being measured and improved.
It ensures the food we eat is safe and focuses on the highest level of food safety throughout the entire life cycle of food.
Focuses on providing security for any kind of digital information. It helps an organisation manages the security of assets such as financial information, intellectual property, employee data and information etc. It is systematic approach to managing information that is sensitive and of significant value to a business.
It is an internationally recognized standard for creating, executing and maintaining a Quality Management System for a company. It is aimed to be used by organizations of any size or industry, and it can be used by any company.
In today's competitive global market,ISO certification implant confidence in clients and other stakeholders that the company conducts itself efficiently and to a high standard and also gives credibility and trust within consumers, stakeholders and other business partners. Ithelpsto increase productivity while minimizing errors.ISO certifications act as a company's proof that they endure by the standards set forth by the International Organization for Standardization.
The certification process is performed by external certification bodies also known as CB. Steps involved are:
1
StepYou need to choose the type of ISO certification required for your business. For example, If you are into the manufacturing sector, you can go for popular certification like ISO 9001 for quality management, ISO 45001for Occupational Health And Safety Management System etc. Food businesses can go for ISO 22000 for Food Safety Management and so on.
2
StepWhile choosing a body, first identify the national standard body in your country. For example, in India TV, BSI, DNV.GL, SGC are some of the well known certification bodies accredited by NABCB ( National Accreditation Board for Certification Bodies ).
3
StepThe applicant or the company and the CB should agree on a contract. This contract usually defines the rights and obligations of both parties and it includes liability issues, confidentiality and access rights.
4
StepThe ISO auditor will review all your manuals & documents related to various policies &procedures. The review will help the auditor to identify the possible gaps against the requirements specified in the ISO standards. The auditor communicates the gaps and you should prepare an action plan to eliminate this gaps.
5
StepThe auditor audits the changes and confirms everything is as per the ISO standards. If the auditor is satisfied, they will prepare the final ISO audit report and forward it to the certification body. The CB will grant you the ISO certification. The certificate is valued for three years.
5
StepConducted to ensure that ISO quality standards are being maintained by the organisation. Usually conducted once a year.
IAF (International Accreditation Forum) provides accreditation to organisations in various countries. It ensures that the organisations are competent to do the work undertake and are not subject to conflicts of interest.
Accreditation is the license provided to certification bodies to be able to perform the certification audits to issue the certificates. There is usually only one accreditation body for each country.
Certification is the certificate issued to a company by certification body stating that a company is compliant with a standard.