WHY ISO 9001
ISO 9001 sets out the criteria for a quality management system and is the only standard in the family that can be certified to (although this is not a requirement). It can be used by any organization, large or small, regardless of its field of activity. In fact, there are over one million companies and organizations in over 170 countries certified to ISO 9001.
This standard is based on a number of quality management principles including a strong customer focus, the motivation and implication of top management, the process approach and continual improvement. These principles are explained in more detail in ISO’s quality management principles. Using ISO 9001 helps ensure that customers get consistent, good-quality products and services, which in turn brings many business benefits.
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT ISO 9001 DOES MY ORGANIZATION NEED CERTIFICATION TO ISO 9001
Checking that the system works is a vital part of ISO 9001. It is recommended that an organization performs internal audits to check how its quality management system is working. An organization may decide to invite an independent certification body to verify that it is in conformity to the standard, but there is no requirement for this. Alternatively, it might invite its clients to audit the quality system for themselves.
WHERE CAN I FIND OUT MORE ABOUT AUDITING ISO 9001
Support on auditing quality management systems can be found on the Website of the ISO 9001 Auditing Practices Group. This is an informal group of quality management system experts, auditors and practitioners from ISO/TC 176 and the International Accreditation Forum.
