ISO Standards and Certification Training

BUSINESS · GLOBAL

ISO Standards and Certification Training

What the main standards cover, certification versus training, choosing a course

ISO standards are management frameworks rather than product specifications, and understanding that makes the training options considerably clearer.

What the main standards cover

ISO 9001 is quality management — consistent processes and continual improvement. ISO 14001 is environmental management. ISO 45001 is occupational health and safety. ISO 27001 is information security.

None of them certifies that your product is good. They certify that you have a system for managing a particular risk and that you follow it.

Certification and accreditation

An organisation is certified by a certification body, and that body may itself be accredited by a national accreditation service. Accredited certification carries considerably more weight with customers and in tenders.

Check whether a certificate is accredited rather than simply issued, since unaccredited certification is sold widely.

Training routes

Foundation and awareness courses explain a standard. Internal auditor courses train people to audit their own organisation. Lead auditor courses are longer, assessed, and are what external auditors hold.

Choose by what you actually need to do rather than by the most impressive title.

Is it worth doing

It is frequently a requirement in supply chains, public sector tenders and regulated sectors, which is the usual driver. The internal benefit depends entirely on whether the system is used or performed for the auditor.

What implementation involves

Documenting what you actually do, finding the gaps, fixing them, running internal audits and a management review, then a two-stage external assessment. It takes months rather than weeks.

Small organisations

Certification is achievable for very small businesses and the effort is proportionate to the organisation rather than to the standard. Consultants can help and cannot certify you themselves.

Beware anyone selling certification without an audit, which is not certification.

Getting value from a system

A management system used properly finds problems before customers do. One maintained for an annual audit produces paperwork and nothing else, and the difference is whether managers actually use the reviews.

Involve the people doing the work in writing the procedures, since they know what actually happens.

Training people

Train more than one internal auditor, since a single trained person leaving takes the capability with them.

Other standards and schemes

Sector schemes such as Cyber Essentials, SafeContractor and food safety certifications sit alongside ISO standards and are frequently what a particular customer actually asks for.

Find out what your customers require before choosing anything, since certification you were not asked for is an expensive way to find out.

Cost

Budget for the certification body's fees, surveillance audits each year and the internal time, which is usually the largest part.

Choosing a provider

Check who certifies the course itself, the trainer's audit experience, the class size and whether assessment is included in the price.

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