Which ISO Standard Is Best?

If an organization decides to go for ISO Certification, the questions that popped out are,

• Which ISO Standard is best for my Business?
• Who does issue the ISO Certificates?
• How to pass the ISO Certification Audit?
• What are the ISO Certification Requirements?

That’s right, Most Business owners, managing directors, or CEOs, initially think that they can prepare themselves for the ISO Certification requirements. In most cases, they succeed to clear the Certification audit, but in some cases, they can’t due to the lack of skillset of their resources. That is where they start to identify the best external ISO consultants who can help them to implement the system.

Which ISO Standard is best for my Business?

As you already know, there are hundreds of ISO standards published by ISO, but how to identify which one is best for your business. The answer is simple, if you are trying to get the ISO Certificate for the first time, then ISO 9001:2015 is the best standard for starts with. Because ISO 9001:2015 (Quality Management System) is applicable to all organizations (Any nature or any size).

If you have a special requirement of ISO Certification, that demanded by your client or for any government/private tender, based on the requirement or nature of business you can go with the following ISO standards,

ISO 9001 – Quality Management System – Applicable to all businesses (Service Based and Product Based)

ISO 27001 – Information Security Management System – Applicable to business which requires the secured environment to protect the Business Critical Information. Information might be anything, such that Customer Data, Financial Data, Research Data, programming or Coding Data, or any data that is critical to keep safe.   

In most cases, 90% of IT Companies, Financial Institutes, Banks, R&D, and other big organizations go with ISO 27001 Certification.

ISO 14001 – Environmental Management System, applicable to businesses or organizations whose operations impact the surrounding environment and they are looking to meet the local or international regulatory requirements.

Mostly applicable to Chemical Companies, production/manufacturing companies, mining companies, chemical companies, pharmaceutical companies, oil & gas agencies, and any other companies that require presenting their responsibility to save the environment without harming through their business operations.

ISO 45001 – Occupational Health and Safety Management System – applicable to organizations, in which the safety of their resources (Manpower) at risk. This also required for regulatory requirements.

Constructions, manufacturing, Chemical or Mining Companies, where physical risk factor for human is severed, they have to implement the safety guidelines as per ISO 45001 and get ISO certified.

Even MNC’s or IT companies also can go with ISO 45001, as their employees may feel mental risks during and after working hours. It’s the organizational responsibility to protect their resources as per the legal requirements.

As for other standards, the organizations can go with their client requirements if they have any particular demands.

Who does issue the ISO Certificates?

There is a myth that the ISO organization issues the ISO Certificates. No, ISO only publishes the ISO Standards; the ISO Certificates are issued by accredited Certification Bodies. Again, No government will issue the ISO Certificates, but Certification Bodies that are accredited by the government or independent Accreditation Bodies issue the Certificates. Every country has its own Accreditation Bodies and under accreditation body, there are hundreds of Certification Bodies are working to issue ISO Certificates with proper auditing.

For Example, the USA has more than one accreditation body, such as A2LA, ANAB, IAS, UAF, and IOAS.

India has only one Accreditation Body that is NABCB (National Accreditation Board for Certification Bodies).

United Kingdom has the UKAS (United Kingdom Accreditation Services) Accreditation Body.

Apart from these, there are various independent Accreditation bodies those work with their own policies and not recognized by IAF (International Accreditation Forum).

How to pass the ISO Certification Audit?

As mentioned above, Certification bodies audit the organizational Management System before issuing any ISO Certificates. To clear the ISO Certification audit, the organization has to implement the required documentation, guidelines as per the ISO standards. The organization can do self-implementation if they have enough skills to do or hire external ISO Consulting agencies like Genveritas to implement the System. Due to the practice and experience of ISO Consultants, It is easier to implement and get ISO Certified, but the process is quite Costlier. But With negotiations, Organization can hire the best ISO Consultants.

Contact Genveritas and understand the roadmap and charges for your ISO Certification Requirements.

What are the ISO Certification Requirements?

As it comes to the requirements of ISO Certification, Organization has to prepare documentation, train their employees and follow the guidelines mentioned in the ISO Standards. The requirements are simple and can be integrated easily into your current management system.

Part of Documentation includes policies, standard operation procedures (SOP), records, roles and responsibilities, controls, and manuals based on the selected ISO Standards.

For ISO 9001:2015 Certifications, a partial list of the following documents are mandatory,  

Scope of the QMS, Quality Policy, Competency Records, design & development Input records, a record of non-conformity, Internal Audit Program & Results, and Management review results, etc.

There are set of records and procedures for each department in the organization, to prepare, maintain and follow as per the required ISO Standard.

For more information about ISO Certification, requirements and implementation, Feel free to contact us.

M: 8867 260 270         e: support@genveritas.in     w: www.genveritas.in