International Organization for Standardization (ISO) is a body situated at Geneva, Switzerland.
Some stunning information about the ISO standards & related certification are as follows:
- ISO only develops & publishes ISO standards and DOES NOT play any role in the certification. Therefore, a company or organization cannot be certified by ISO.
- ISO certificates can be issued by ANY ORGANIZATION as there are no guidelines specifying the authorization about who cannot conduct certification audits and issue ISO certificates.
ISO Recommends: ISO does recommend organizations seeking certification, to choose a Credible, Recognized & Accredited Certification Body or Conformity Assessment Body, if certification is required.
- Certification is NOT MANDATORY; Organizations can choose to implement ISO standards for business excellence and decide not to go for certification.
- Most of the published ISO Standards are for developing management system for organizations for better functionality of their business.
- ISO Certification is a third-party endorsement which states that the organization has established, implemented, documented, maintained and monitored, management system against the selected ISO standard.
Procedure:
Step 1: The organization seeking ISO Certification needs to implement the ISO Standard or the management system. The organization may select and hire a consultant or a consulting organization to help them implement the ISO standard or the management system as per the requirements of the standard.
Step 2: The implementation duration may vary and shall depend on the level of participation between the consultant and the organization seeking to implement the ISO standard. Let’s take a case of ISO 9001:2015. The implementation procedure may take various steps including Gap Analysis, Process Mapping, Understanding the organization and its context, Discussions & Brainstorming sessions to identify & evaluate the process control parameters, documentation, internal audits etc.
Step 3: The consultant shall close all non-conformities and should assess the effectiveness of the established management system. On successful assessment, the consultant, recommends the organization to invite the selected Certification Body (Conformity Assessment Body) for the assessment, if the organization opts for third party endorsement through certification.
