HOW TO MAINTAIN ISO 9001 CERTIFICATION?

Obtaining an ISO 9001 certification can be challenging but this does not mean that your job is done, you will need to maintain it. Maintaining an ISO certification includes a number of steps and processes. Part of this is that your business needs to be internally and externally audited to check if it is aligned with the standard and implemented.
Unfortunately, many companies are unaware of what needs to be done to maintain their system. As a result, preparation for an audit can be unnecessarily stressful.
If you have just recently obtained an ISO 9001 certification and need to understand more about the implementation and maintenance of your system, here are some tips that may help.

High-level procedures and detailed step-by-step work instructions

It is important that your ISO procedures are set at the right level of the business and easily understood. Management needs to understand your ISO procedures and where necessary, for areas of high risk and complexity, detailed step-by-step work instructions should be developed to help your staff perform difficult and/or complex activities and tasks that can cost the business time and/or money.

Training

You may already have defined procedures for your business, but have your staff been trained in them? It is important to conduct training sessions, either formal or informal, and keep records, to ensure your staff are fully conversant with the procedures that are relevant to their position.
Training can also be used as a Key Performance Indicator (KPI) after staff performance reviews.

Keeping Track Through Monitoring

Identify key areas that you would like to monitor and measure. This information should be meaningful and targeted to give you a clear overview of sales, productivity, and product conformity, for example.
This information should be targeted to help you make better and more informed decisions based on solid facts rather than assumptions. With proper monitoring & analysis, you can make sustainable improvements when the need arises.

Customer Satisfaction

Constant monitoring of customer satisfaction can be an important piece of information for improvement. Keeping track of how satisfied your customers are can help enhance and improve your business.

Internal Audit

Carry out an internal audit of your entire system at least once per year. Internal audit findings, along with other information gathered, should be reviewed at your management review meetings to allow for proportionate and sustainable decisions to be made.
ISO 9001 has a principle that is to have decisions based on solid evidence, and this phase helps with that.

External Audit

External auditing represents another critical aspect of the process as it enables another set of trained eyes to review your system for alignment with the minimum requirements of the standard.

ISO 9001 Consultants: Maintain Your ISO Quality Management System with ISO Brisbane

Assure your customers of the efficiency and reliability they desire through your certified ISO 9001 Quality Management System.
Our ISO 9001 consultants can help you meet customer needs and expectations.
For more details and queries, call ISO Brisbane today at 0428 660 383 or message ISO Brisbane at info@isobrisbane.com.au.