What is ISO 14000 Standards?

What Is ISO 14000 Standards?

ISO 14000 is primarily concerned with Environmental Management. In plain language, this means what the organization does to minimize harmful effects on the environment caused by its activities.

Improving the environmental performance of corporations is one way of limiting environmental damage. Environmental management systems (EMSs), such as ISO 14001, provide a framework for organizations that wish to effectively manage their environmental affairs. Implementing an EMS that conforms to the ISO 14001 standard may help businesses integrate environmental values into their operations.

An EMS can be described as a program of continuous environmental improvement that follows a defined sequence of steps drawn from established project management practice and routinely applied in business management. In simple terms these steps are as follows:
• Review the environmental consequences of the operations.
• Define a set of policies and objectives for environmental performance.
• Establish an action plan to achieve the objectives.
• Monitor performance against these objectives.
• Report the results appropriately.
• Review the system and the outcomes and strive for continuous improvement.
Not every system will present these steps in exactly the same way, but the basic principles are clear and easily understandable.

The ISO 14000 series is a series of standards for different aspects of environmental management. A number of these standards relating to environmental management systems have been adopted formally by the members of the ISO, while others are in different stages of preparation.

ISO 14001 ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT SYSTEM AUDIT

ISO 14001 Standards - Environmental Management System

ISO 9001 Standards – Document Repository

Useful Aids to Implement ISO 9001 Standards

Useful Aids To Implement ISO 9001 Standards

Many companies implement ISO 9001 without using all the available tools. As a result, some companies may not fully optimize their implementation. This issue could be manifested as confusion over terms, misunderstanding about requirements, and perplexity concerning intention.
ISO, the International Organization for Standardization, based in Geneva Switzerland issues thousands of standards, but we limit our scope to ISO 9001:2008 and its immediate “family”.
This includes ISO 9000:2005 and ISO 9004:20002. ISO 9001 is a general industry standard for quality management, but ISO also issues industry specific standards. Many of these standards, such as ISO 13485 for medical devices, are based on ISO 9001 and can also utilize these available tools.

In addition to the information discussed below, ISO also issues standards related to specific activities that may arises in a quality management system. The following lists these supporting documents.

Automotive ISO/TS 16949:2002
Education IWA 2:2007
Energy PC 242, ISO 50001
Food safety ISO 22000:2005
Information security ISO/IEC 27001:2005
Health care IWA 1:2005
Local government IWA 4:2005
Medical devices ISO 13485:2003
Petroleum and gas ISO 29001:2003
Ship recycling ISO/PAS 30000:2008
Supply chain security ISO 28000:2007

Process Approach In ISO 9001 Standards Posted by everise | iso 9001 standard | Thursday

Process Approach In ISO 9001 Standards

The process approach was introduced into ISO 9001 with the year 2000 version of the standards.
Prior versions used an element approach. The document Guidance on the concept and use of the process approach for management systems describes to process approach and offers an implementation paradigm.
1. Identification of processes of the organization
1.1. Define the purpose of the organization
1.2. Define the policies and objectives of the organization
1.3. Determine the processes in the organization
1.4. Determine the sequence of the processes
1.5. Define process ownership
1.6. Define process documentation
2. Planning of a process
2.1. Define the activities within the process
2.2. Define the monitoring and measurement requirements
2.3. Define the resources needed

2.4. Verify the process and its activities against its planned objectives
3. Implementation and measurement of the process
4. Analysis of the process
5. Corrective action and improvement of the process Implementation
This document explains the process used to evaluate changes to the 2008 version. In particular, it explains the revision process and illustrates the impact vs. benefit analysis used to evaluate potential changes.
In addition to the guidance documents, ISO maintains a web site with “official interpretations” of ISO 9001. Currently, these interpretations only include ISO 9001:2000, but, because the changes to the 2008 version were limited, they are valuable.
Consider a common question. An organization needs a documented procedure for preventive action (8.5.3), and must keep records of the results of preventive action (8.5.3.d). One of the interpretation requests asks, “Does sub-clause 8.5.3 a) require organizations to demonstrate, with objective evidence in the form of records, that they have undertaken actions to determine the existence of ‘potential nonconformities and their causes’?” The answer is “No”.
Auditing Practices
The ISO 9001 Auditing Practices Group maintains a website9 with guidance and information on auditing ISO 9001 quality management systems. It is an informal group of quality management system (QMS) experts, auditors, and practitioners drawn from the ISO Technical Committee 176 Quality Management and Quality Assurance (ISO/TC 176) and the International Accreditation Forum (IAF).
The website, primarily aimed at QMS auditors, consultants, and quality practitioners, is an online source of papers and presentations on auditing a QMS and reflect the process based approach.
The website contains almost forty guidance documents with practical advice ranging from “How to audit top management processes” to “The role and value of the audit checklist”.

Quality Planning

Whenever the term “product” is used within the ISO 9001 standard, it refers to both tangible goods and intangible services. The ISO 9001 standard is meant to be generic which means that it is suitable for all kinds of organization, whether commercial or otherwise. The purpose of the quality management system model that is being propagated by the standard is the fulfillment of customer requeirements and expectations in order to induce high levels of customer satisfaction. An unsatisfied customer is essentially a customer whose requirements or needs, and expectations of the level of services being granted upon him/her have not been met. We are all customers because we buy products all the time. So we know what it means to be a dissatisfied customer. The common reaction is to never to go back to that seller and look for other alternatives. A successful organization is one which understands what it takes to meet customer requirements in order to satisfy their needs and expectations. A specific process is thus necessary to resolve any customer complaint or dispute. This process should be geared towards satisfying the customer’s needs and expectations. The parameters of this process should be referenced from the terms of the sale and purchase. This is why it is necessary to review the customer’s requirements before committing to the sales contract. It is necessary that the customer understands what he/she is paying for and it is equally necessary for the organization to understand what it is supposed to deliver. When your organization has these processes in place, then the only thing to do next is to continually measure the effectiveness and subsequently take actions to continually improve the whole process.

ISO 9001 Standards Software

ISO 9001 Standards Software

Companies that need quality management systems realize that products like ISO 9001 software are important tools to insure their product safety, consistency and profitability. Using ISO 9001 software can help guarantee that any company can monitor productivity, customer satisfaction and product quality with reports that contain solid information.

This information is now vital to management in order for maximum efficiency in any industry. This is why ISO 9001 software is vital to any sized company. Continuous improvement means continuous profitability. Here are just a few reasons why:

o Companies increase sales because of better performance, quality, and delivery. This propels you ahead of your competition.

o ISO 9001 software helps retain employees and attract more highly qualified employees because they are assured of a controlled and consistent work environment.

o The experience of a more professional workplace boosts employee morale.

o Reduced operating costs dramatically increase your company’s productivity, leading to higher profitability.

o Customer satisfaction and higher profitability expand your market share and demand for your consistently higher product quality.

o When you’re compliant or certified to the appropriate standard, the businesses that work with you know that quality objectives, continuous improvement, and customer satisfaction are your goals.

Many companies require that their suppliers are ISO 9001 compliant; therefore, once you’re certified, your opportunities increase. ISO 9001 software has be utilized and has developed experience of helping manufacturing, service, and distribution organizations to be more efficient and more profitable through continuous improvement programs. We help you to implement the time-tested methods of continuous improvement to measure performance, analyze data, and apply the appropriate process changes. This includes using ISO 9001 software.

ISO 9001 software also offers a suite of modules to enable you to manage the document management and ISO 9001 Compliance Management process. These modules enable complete transparent system measurement with targeted action items ensuring all persons are notified of tasks and carry them out in a prompt and efficient manner. ISO 9001 software provides training in there software and also bring extensive experience in implementing the ISO 9001 software in various environments.