Why ISO 9001 and other standards?

Whether it be ISO 9001 Quality Management / Quality assurance, AS/NZS 4801 OHS Management, or ISO 14001 Environmental Management - management system standards were developed as a way for businesses to:

1. Be in greater control of their organisation; and

2. Find ways to continually improve.

Being certified to a management standard such as ISO 14001 tells your customers that an independent accredited organisation has verified that you do meet an international management standard.

This means: You have a plan for protecting the environment (ISO 14001), for meeting customer requirements (ISO 9001) or for ensuring the occupational health and safety of yourself and others (AS/NZS 4801).

It also shows that you and an external body regularly check to make sure you follow your plan.

Another reason for standards is they provide a framework for helping you stay on track.

For example: If checking your work against the standard highlights a discrepancy between your plans and what you actually do, you'll be able to rectify the discrepancy (Sometimes, this may mean a change of plans, rather than compliance to the plan)

Contrary to the perception of many, management system standards, such as ISO 9001, do not prescribe how you must run your business, that is up to you.

However, they do prescribe certain concepts and controls to help you manage your business better.

Often, company's get certified to management standards because:

A major customer requires you to have quality assurance;
To help improve your marketing edge;
To boost the confidence of your customers

However, the most importantly reason to be certified to one of these standards should be to help improve your business and reduce risk (E.g. increase production, quality and sales and reduce waste and complaints); that is what they were developed for.