ISO certification reveals that your organisation meets the highest safety, quality and efficiency standards. It also shows that your company meets all the regulatory and customer requirements. Besides, ISO certification helps demonstrate that your organisation’s management system complies with an internationally recognised standard important for the clients, employees, and business.
Important Prerequisites for ISO Certification
- Choosing an ISO Certification
There are different types of ISO certifications. Some of the most common categories of ISO certifications include ISO 9001-2015, ISO 14001, ISO 27001, ISO 45001, and ISO 55001. You can pick any of these ISO certifications depending on whether you want to improve the quality management, environmental management, information security management, occupational health & safety management, or asset management systems of your organisation.
- Find a Certification Body
The International Organization for Standardization ISO only develops quality, efficiency, and safety standards, but they are not involved in the certification process. To achieve ISO certification, organisations need to work with external certification bodies. When choosing a certification body, you need to check for accreditation.
At Best Practice Biz, we are a JAS-ANZ accredited assessment and certification body with the competence to offer global ISO certification services. The certification body should offer training, conduct a gap analysis checklist, internal audit, and issue certification as per ISO standards.
- Establishing a Management System
Depending on the ISO certification requirement or your business needs, you may need to adopt a new management system for long-term compliance with the standards.
- Implementation
This is the longest stage of the whole process. Here, the principles and the requirements of the ISO standard become part of your organisation. It is essential to provide internal training to ensure everyone works towards achieving the ISO certification.
- Auditing and Continual Improvement
It is essential to get an auditor from an external body, preferably the ISO certification body, to confirm your organisation’s compliance with the ISO standard. Regular internal audits may also help establish robust internal controls and ensure your organisation can respond quickly to changes in the certification.
It is essential to note that each certification has its requirements. For instance requirements of ISO 9001 are:
- Quality Management System
- Management responsibility
- Resource management
- Product realisation
- Measurement, analysis and improvement
To achieve an ISO 9001:2015 certification, you need to set up a quality management system and ensure a certified body audits it. If the audit results show that you meet the latest requirements of the ISO standards, you can obtain your certificate. The certificate you receive is only valid for three years, after which you will have to recertify your organisation.
Documents Required for ISO Certification
- Records of qualification, training, and experience
- Records of products and services review requirement
- Records of conforming and non-conforming outputs
- Results of internal audit
- Results of corrective actions.
How Best Practice Can Help
Best Practice can offer online and in-house training, auditing and certification services. Our certification services will enable you to increase efficiency, reduce wastage, and achieve customer satisfaction. Contact us today to learn more about how we can streamline your road to achieving ISO certification.
