There are a lot of standards on the table of International Organization for Standardization (ISO). It is difficult to decide which standards are the most suitable for your business. Some of them are specific to a particular sector and on the other hand, some are generic and can be applied to any industry. Here, we have outlined necessary ISO standards that one should entail in his business.
ISO 9001
ISO 9001 is by far the most popular group of standards. This is a group of quality management standards which contains 14 standards in total, out of which ISO 9001:2015 is the only that can be certified to improve organizations Quality Management System and their activities. It is updated and revised in about every 7 years. The standard describes the Quality Management System (QMS) which further suggests to maintain quality products and services. It emphasizes the top management process based on continual improvements and customer focused.
Last it was revised in 2015 and places focus on process approach. This standard can be used in any organization regardless of industry or sector. In over 170 countries, this certification is given to over 1,000,000 organizations according to ISO Survey of Management System Standard Certifications.
ISO 14001
ISO 14000 group of standards pays attention to the environment. From the multiple standards, ISO 14001: 2015 is the most popular and applicable to establish all the needs of Environmental Management System (EMS) and continual improvement in their parameters.
ISO 21001
It is a code of educational organizations management system in which specific requirements are listed for a management system when the organization needs to demonstrate its core ability to adapt to the acquisition and development of the whole competence through the source of teaching, learning or research.
ISO 22000
This standard pays attention to the development and implementation of food safety management system. It is a standard specifically for organizations that works in the food chain. Multiple standards of food and drink is used in a variety of organization directly or indirectly related to anything we eat.
ISO/IEC 27001
The ISO/IEC 27001 certification helps to tackle risks associated with information security in the organization. It also enhances the ability of the organization to correctly respond to impending security threats, and increase the attack resilience. On the whole it improves the company culture by training employees to adopt secure measures in everyday work environment.
ISO 45001
This standard was developed to help organizations enhance the health and safety levels for employees, counter work-place related risks effectively and to provide an overall safe working condition. The particulars about the standard was developed by a committee of select experienced occupational health and safety experts and the approach is similar to the other certifications such as the ISO 9001 and ISO 14001.
ISO Certification Process in India
1. Fill up an application according to the ISO registrar containing rights and responsibilities of entrepreneur, certification body and should include liability issues, confidentiality, and access rights.
2. The ISO certification body will review all the practices going on in the organization and figure out the possible gaps for meeting the ISO certification.
3. The ISO registrar will then ask the entrepreneur to prepare an action plan to fill the existing gaps in meeting the required standards.
4. The ISO registrar will then inspect to check if the plan has been implemented. During the audit, if the registrar finds anything that does not meet with standards prescribed, the registrar has full power to look into the severity of the issue.
5. The registration process shall not proceed if all the requirements are not conformed. This usually leads into a re-audit of affected areas.
6. After all the findings and audits are updated, the registrar will recommend the certification.
7. To check the sustenance of ISO standards surveillance audits will be performed from time to time.
Partner with a trusted ISO consultant for compliance excellence.