Guide to implementing ISO 9001

One of the things that sets us apart, here at Citation ISO Certification, is our commitment to stripping away the hassle and making things work for our customers on a day-to-day basis. We don’t want to see our ISO 9001 manuals sitting on shelves. We believe in simple, practical ways of working to bring reduced costs, improved efficiency and enhanced reputation.

The best part is that even after you’ve gained certification, we’ll continue to support you at every step. We also offer a range of support, training and certification services, to help you:

Internal audits, management reviews, handling non-conformance and keeping your management system up to date can all seem a bit daunting. Don’t worry. We’ll help you and your team to manage every aspect of your ISO Quality Management System, in a way that gets the results you need. We offer onsite and online training, nationwide, throughout the year.

Support for quality management systems

Citation ISO Certification can offer support to any organisation with an existing QMS (Quality Management System) in operation . For a small monthly fee our support packages include an annual on-site visit, as well as telephone and email support. In short, whatever your question or problem, we’re just at the end of the phone.

If you have already drafted your own quality management system, or used a consultant to draft it on your behalf, we can offer you a FREE desktop review. 

Subject to passing the review, this process will help you fast track to ISO 9001 certification. A compliance audit will need to be arranged to make sure that the management system has been put into action correctly. But providing all goes to plan, we’ll present you with your certificate on the very same day.

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ISO 9001 is a Quality Management System that sets out the things your organisation needs to do, to make sure that you are always focused on meeting customer needs and wants. This means understanding everything from the organisational structure, policies, procedures, process and resources that best support this, right through to setting out who is responsible (and accountable) for what.

The Quality Management Standard is supported by a great deal of theory and has been written and maintained by people with real expertise in this field. ISO 9001 : 2015 is structured to focus on several important quality management principles, all of which need to be present in your Quality Management System to demonstrate that you meet the recognised Standard.

The Quality Management Principles will help you to review your organisation’s performance and then implement the changes necessary to bridge the gap between where you are now and where you need to be to reduce costs, improve productivity and enhance your reputation.

• Customer focus 

The first area of focus is on monitoring your customers’ perceptions in relation to the ways that you have met their needs (consumer and legal). Once you know this, you can look at how to respond to such feedback.

• Leadership

Next, it’s important that someone takes a leadership role. That means taking personal responsibility for setting objectives; considering the risks that could prevent success; implementing a Quality Policy (i.e. your statement regarding what you’re going to do and promise and how) and generally ensuring that the standards agreed are met and remain relevant.

• Involvement of people 

Your staff are the most valuable resource you have and the role they play in your Quality Management System is critical to your success. That’s why it’s important that any processes/changes you put in place are approved by competent individuals with a clear understanding of what’s expected of them and their co-workers. You should also consider whether people are properly trained and ensure that there is effective communication.

• Process approach 

The Plan-Do-Check-Act (PDCA) principle is set out to provide a logical way of working day by day. This draws on our many years of experience to provide you with a practical, proven way of making sure everything is properly planned, resourced and managed.

• Improvement 

By continually monitoring, reviewing and defining opportunities for improvement, you’ll stay one step ahead of future challenges. As a result, you’ll be continually seeking out new ways to improve the delivery of a product or service. This ensures you’re focused on the future and can drive continuing success. 

• Factual approach to decision making

When we work together to implement your structured Quality Management System, each of the processes and steps recorded will generate useful data on external and internal issues. This will help you to learn about the needs of interested parties (like customers, suppliers, staff etc) and you can use this to support decision-making and to reduce the scope for problems in the future.

• Relationship management

This final area focuses on controlling the ways in which each of the processes interact. The aim here is to improve business relationships so that you can focus on retaining the best customers, suppliers and service providers in order to increase sales.

This means: the steps you need to take to get going on your OH&S management system.

• Have you clearly set out the processes you need to meet the requirements of the Standard ?
• Have you co-ordinated your ISO 45001 operations with contractors so that you can manage any risks arising from their work?
• Is there a clearly defined process in place with external providers?

We understand that you’ve entered into this process because you’re aiming for certification. To achieve this you need to be able to prove that you have the correct structure in place to meet the Standard’s requirements.

By working with a Citation ISO Certification Consultant, you’ll be able to achieve certification in as little as 45 days. That’s regardless of whether you have done this before or not.

We have developed a simple, three stage certification process, along with a ISO 9001 checklist to make this easier:

Stage 1: Manual

We start the process by carrying out what’s called a ‘gap-analysis’. This will highlight any changes that need to be made so that your policies and procedures meet the requirements of the Standard. With the information we gain on this, your ISO 9001 : 2015 bespoke management system can be created. One of our expert consultants can do this for you, or you can do it yourself.

Stage 2: Implementation

Now it is time to make those changes (if applicable). We offer guidance to help you along the way and provide templates and tutorial videos to support you. 

Stage 3: Certification

To gain certification, an accredited auditor must now check that everything’s in place. They’ll check that the documented processes in the management system are being followed and that the necessary changes have been made. Providing all is in place you will be presented with your ISO 9001 certification.

*With Citation ISO Certification this process can take as little as 45 days

To make sure that your certification remains valid, your management system and processes must be checked on an annual basis. Therefore audits will be carried out around the anniversary of your certification date and during the agreed certification period, by an accredited auditor.

DOWNLOAD AN EXAMPLE ISO 45001 : 2018 CHECKLIST