IRCA certificated QMS auditors must demonstrate understanding and the ability to apply the revisions to ISO 9001. IRCA certificated QMS auditors are required to complete a minimum of two hours of professional development in ISO 9001:2008 before completing audits to ISO 9001:2008. You will be required to submit the details of this development in the CPD log sheet (IRCA/173) as part of your normal certification renewal process. You must note which version of the standard the audit was conducted against in your audit log (IRCA/106).

Continue your professional development (CPD) with study of the document posted here.

To review the transition plan, for more information and to purchase ISO 9001:2008 click here.

John Broomfield, our President and CEO, was invited to speak on Risk Management Systems in South Africa at the 47th International Conference of NOSA in August. Here are a few words from John about the experience.

My wife, Mary, and I traveled to Champagne Sports Resort, Drakensburg, Kwazulu-Natal, RSA. After 20 hours of travel we were thrilled to arrive at the conference’s beautiful venue high in the Drakensburg Mountains.

500 attendees comprised health, safety, environmental and quality professionals. Many were with the leaders of their companies to collect coveted NOSHCON awards, made each year in recognition of the outstanding performance of their management systems.

I spoke on the emerging ISO 31000 on Risk Management and how to develop, simplify and improve process-based management systems so they can be used to manage risk proactively. As well as analyzing failure modes, I also spoke of analyzing success modes in developing, using and improving the system that runs the business.

Here is a summary of the paper.

All work is process. When supported by an effective system we can work to prevent loss and deliver value. Dr Deming taught us that most, if not all, human error is caused by the system. Humans are either helped by the systems in which they work or they are not. Too often it is the latter. People are blamed when the system could have prevented the incident or stopped recurrence of loss and other failures to fulfill requirements. Enlightened leaders ask “why?” instead of “who?” and consequently go to work on their process-based management systems.

Requirements come from stakeholders including employees, customers, regulators and shareholders.  In effective systems, leaders are committed to requirements, systems provide confidence that requirements will be fulfilled and stakeholders continually improve systems to reduce the cost of fulfilling the applicable requirements.

Organizations use these systems to run the enterprises in which they operate. They do not use them primarily to win prizes or the certificates demanded by some customers. However, by focusing on what is required to run the enterprise, these systems naturally conform to the internationally recognized standards for process-based risk management systems.

These effective systems include processes to determine and address the most significant risks. Consequently, they result in resources and controls that enable processes to prevent loss sooner. These systems can also be used to increase the value of inputs faster as a result of analyzing causes of success.

For your free copy of the full paper describing how companies all over the world have developed their leaders and their process-based management systems since 1987 visit www.aworldofquality.com/diy.

companies which seek certification of their system to ISO 9001, experience significant improvements in ROA as compared to similarly performing companies in the same industry which do not seek certification. Furthermore, over time, the companies with certified systems are more competitive than the companies with uncertified systems.²

In the case of ISO 14001, research has found that ensuring the system conforms to ISO 14001 is good for business because it encourages reduced materials and operating costs.³ Furthermore, companies that already use systems that are certified as conforming to ISO 9001 often find that ISO 14001 conformity is achieved faster and the benefits realized earlier. By combining quality and environmental management systems, organizations can decrease documentation and implementation costs.⁴

¹Liebesman, S. “Implementing ISO 9001:2000: US Survey of User Experiences” ISO Management Systems. November-December 2002. Retrieved 11/14/2008 from http://standardsgroup.asq.org/news/psi/
IMS06-2002E-Implementing_ISO_9001-BD.pdf
²Corbett, C.J., Montes, M. J., Kirsch, D. A., Alvarez-Gil, M. J., “Does ISO Certification Pay?” ISO Management Systems. July-August 2008. Retrieved 11/13/2008 from http://www.caliso9000.com/Publications/
Does_ISO9000_pay.pdf
³Paramasevam, G., Hassan, M.N., Mohamed, N. “Cost benefit analysis for implementation of Environmental Management Systems” Environmentally Conscious Design and Inverse Manufacturing, 2001. Proceedings EcoDesign 2001: Second International Symposium.
2001. Page(s):766 - 768.
⁴Lissenden, J. “ISO 9000 eases ISO 14001 Registration” Quality Digest. 1999. Retrieved 11/14/2008 from http://www.qualitydigest.com/may99/
html/body_iso9000.html

Considering ISO 14001? Findings from an EPA report on Financial Incentives for Environmental Management Systems might give you more to consider. Emerging trends include:

An increasing interest in environmental issues by both investment firms and the companies they invest in.

Significant strengthening of disclosure requirements.

Increasing involvement of institutional investors in the companies they invest in.

Similar trends in Europe.

Insurance companies increasing attention to environmental and sustainability issues.

Expansion of the definition of fiduciary responsibility.¹

¹U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Financial Market Incentives for EMS Steering Group. “Financial Incentives for Environmental Management Systems (EMS) Project Findings from Phase I” 2006. Accessed 11/19/08 from http://www.epa.gov/EMS/docs/resources/
FinalFinancialIncentivesforEMS%203-07.pdf