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You'd be hardpressed to find anything that you cannot get ISO certified for – ISO certifications are everywhere! With all the stress and frenzy that often accompanies accreditations, you'd almost forget that it is about much more than a fill-in-the-blanks exercise and the familiar 'check in the box'. How do you best prepare for ISO certifications relevant to your organization? And what should you do to get the best and fastest return on the time, money and resources you invest in this? You'll find out here.
ISO stands for International Organization for Standardization. An independent, non-governmental international organization that sets standards to ensure quality, safety and efficiency in products, services and systems worldwide. ISO's goal is to develop and publish common international standards to facilitate the exchange of goods and services and promote cooperation between countries. ISO standards enable organizations to operate more efficiently, reduce risk, improve quality and comply with laws and regulations.
There are several reasons why ISO standards are important to organizations. Some examples:
If you use ISO standards, then you have a proven, structured framework for improving your business performance. If your company or organization is ISO certified, then:
There are thousands of ISO standards for different aspects of products, processes and services. Important ISO standards in the context of content and quality are ISO 27001 and NEN 7510 (information security) and ISO 9001 (quality management).
ISO 9001 contains guidelines for establishing, implementing and maintaining effective quality management systems (QMS). This standard aims to improve customer satisfaction by focusing on customer requirements and relevant laws and regulations. But leadership and management commitment is also a focus, as is creating support among employees to work together on process management – more specifically, on improving the quality of processes.
ISO 9001 is based on a process approach, where you identify, understand and manage underlying processes so that your KMS is efficient and effective. The premise is that you keep improving based on ongoing analysis of processes and based on this look at what can (still) be improved. ISO 9001 also provides insight into the relationships with relevant stakeholders, offers points of departure for the best possible collaboration with them, and also provides points of departure when it comes to risk management and risk-based thinking.
ISO 27001 focuses on information security and provides guidelines for establishing, implementing, maintaining and improving an effective Information Security Management System (ISMS). The main purpose of ISO 27001 is to ensure the confidentiality, integrity and availability of information within an organization, regardless of its form (digital, paper, etc.).
Some key aspects of ISO 27001 include:
A special variant of ISO 27001 is NEN 7510, the Dutch standard for information security in the healthcare sector. In it you will find guidelines and specifications to ensure the confidentiality, integrity and availability of medical information. This standard was developed specifically to meet the specific requirements and challenges you face in securing sensitive patient data within the healthcare industry.
The process of ISO certification involves several steps, depending on the specific ISO standard(s) an organization wants to meet. In general, the following seven steps are completed:
Next, you will implement the KMS or ISMS and integrate it into the daily activities of the organization. You will train employees, designate/establish communication channels and establish processes. Everything to ensure that the requirements of the standard can be met.
Insufficient management commitment
If your organization's management is not (fully) behind achieving and maintaining ISO certification, in many cases this leads to a lack of resources, priority and support. Therefore, ensure that management is actively involved in the process and committed to achieving and maintaining certification.
Too much focus on documentation
Of course, documentation is important for ISO certification. But document creation should never come at the expense of actual process improvement and implementation of the KMS. Therefore, provide relevant, concise, and practical documentation.
Lack of internal communication and awareness
Employees must be aware of the existence and reason for the QMS and their own contribution to it. In most cases, lack of communication and awareness leads to resistance to change and lack of cooperation.
Emphasis on compliance rather than improvement
ISO certification is not just a matter of compliance with the standard; it is ultimately aimed at continuously improving processes and performance. Therefore, ensure that the QMS focuses on identifying and addressing improvement opportunities, rather than just meeting minimum requirements.
Lack of regular evaluation and adjustment
ISO certifications do not stop when they are achieved; they require regular evaluation and adjustments. Nobody benefits from a static system that does not evolve with the needs of the organization.
Setting clear objectives and measurable goals is critical to the success of your ISO certification. Why are you going to implement a quality management/ information security system and what results do you want to achieve? By setting measurable goals, you can better track progress and celebrate successes. The latter in turn is important to get and keep stakeholders motivated and enthusiastic.
Open and transparent communication with all stakeholders, including employees, customers, suppliers and external auditors, is crucial to the success of ISO certification. Creating a culture of engagement where all stakeholders are heard and respected, promotes understanding, acceptance, and contributions to achieving ISO certification(s) time and time again.
ISO certification often requires changes to existing processes and practices.Your organization must therefore be flexible and resilient if it needs to adapt well to these changes. The ability to respond quickly to new requirements and circumstances, and to learn from feedback and experiences, is essential to successfully move through the certification process each time and maintain certification in the long term.
Are you interested in getting started with ISO and ISO certifications yourself after reading this article? WoodWing Scienta offers extensive features for getting actively involved with ISO, including a complete ISO 9001 handbook that just needs to be adapted to your organization before you can actively start using it.