International Organization for Standardization Introduction The International Organization for Standardization, also known as ISO, is a nongove govern rnme menta ntall inte interna rnati tion onal al body body that that deve develo lops ps and and publ publis ishe hes s inte interna rnati tion onal al standa standards rds.. It was founded founded on Februa February ry 23, 1947 1947 and the organi organizat zation ion has it’s it’s headquarter in Geneva, Switzerland. It has two official languages which are English and French. There are 159 countries that are member of this organization and each country is counted as one member. "The object of ISO is to promote the development of standardization and related world world activi activitie ties s with with a view view to facili facilitat tating ing interna internatio tional nal exchan exchange ge of goods goods and servic services es and to develo developin ping g coope cooperat ration ion in the sphere sphere of intell intellect ectual ual,, scient scientifi ific, c, technological and economic activity." ISO connects public and private sectors, sectors, as many of its member institutes institutes are part of governments of their country or are directed by their governments. On the other hand, other member institutes have their origin in the private sector. This enables a consensus to be reached on solutions that serve both the needs of the businesses and that of societies. ISO has developed over 17500 International Standards on a variety of subjects and some some 1100 1100 new new ISO ISO stan standa dard rds s are are publ publis ished hed every every year year.. ISO ISO is made made up of approximately 180 Technical Committees. Each Technical Committee is responsible for one of many areas of specialization.
ISO Background Customer satisfaction, profitability and market leadership are driven in large part by delivering quality products and services to customers. There is a worldwide trend towards increasingly severe customer expectations regarding quality. This makes organi organizat zation ions s realiz realize e that that for achiev achieving ing a real real busine business ss succes success, s, a conti continuou nuously sly increasing quality performance is necessary. One roadblock to providing quality products and services was the definition of what "qua "quali lity ty"" mean meantt to diff differ erent ent cust custom omer ers. s. Diff Differ erent ent count countri ries es,, indu indust stri ries es and and governments all had varying quality systems that suppliers had to adopt in order to deliver goods around the world. A single worldwide standard was needed to simplify international standards. This gave rise to a platform named ISO where countries around the world work together and make international standards for business, government and society.
How ISO standards are developed An International Standard is the result of an agreement between the member bodi bodies es of ISO. ISO. It may may be used used as such such,, or may may be impl implem emen ente ted d thro throug ugh h incorporation in national standards of different countries. Internation International al Standards Standards are developed developed by ISO technical committees committees (TC) and subcommittees (SC) by a six-step process: 1: Proposal stage
2: Preparatory stage 3: Committee stage 4: Enquiry stage 5: Approval stage 6: Publication stage The following is a summary of each of the six stages: 1: Proposal stage
The first step in the development of an International Standard is to confirm that a particular International Standard is needed. A new work item proposal (NP) is submitted for vote by the members of the relevant TC or SC to determine the inclusion of the work item in the programmer of work. The proposal is accepted if a majority of the P-members of the TC/SC votes in favor and if at least five P-members declare their commitment to participate actively in the project. At this stage a project leader responsible for the work item is normally appointed. 2: Preparatory stage
Usually, a working group of experts, the chairman of which is the project lead leader er,, is set up by the the TC TC/S /SC C for for the the prep prepar arat atio ion n of a work workin ing g draf draft. t. Succes Successiv sive e workin working g drafts drafts may be consid considere ered d until until the workin working g group group is satisfied that it has developed the best technical solution to the problem being addressed. At this stage, the draft is forwarded to the working group's parent committee for the consensus-building consensus- building phase. 3: Committee stage
As soon as a first committee draft is available, it is registered by the ISO Central Secretariat. It is distributed for comment and, if required, voting, by the P-members of the TC/SC. Successive committee drafts may be considered until consensus is reached on the technical content. Once consensus has been attained, the text is finalized for submission as a draft International Standard (DIS). 4: Enquiry stage
The draft International Standard (DIS) is circulated to all ISO member bodies by the ISO Central Secretariat for voting and comments within a period of five months. It is approved for submission submission as a final draft International International Standard Standard (FDIS) if a two-third majority of the P-members of the TC/SC are in favor and not more than one-quarter of the total number of votes cast are negative. If the approval criteria are not met, the text is returned to the originating TC/SC for further study and a revised document will again be circulated for voting and comment as a draft International Standard. 5: Approval stage
The final draft International Standard (FDIS) is circulated to all ISO member bodies by the ISO Central Secretariat for a final Yes/No vote within a period of two months. If technical technical comments are received received during this period, period, they are no longer considered at this stage, but registered for consideration during a future future revisi revision on of the Interna Internatio tional nal Standa Standard. rd. The text text is approv approved ed as an International Standard if a two-thirds majority of the P-members of the TC/SC is in favor and not more than one-quarter of the total number of votes cast are negative. If these approval approval criteria criteria are not met, the standard standard is referred referred back to the originating TC/SC for reconsideration in light of the technical reasons submitted in support of the negative votes received. 6: Publication stage
Once Once a final final draft draft Interna Internatio tional nal Standa Standard rd has been been approv approved, ed, only only minor minor editorial changes, if and where necessary, are introduced into the final text. The The final final text is sent to the ISO Centra Centrall Secret Secretari ariat at which which publis publishes hes the International Standard. If a document with a certain degree of maturity is available at the start of a stan standa dard rdiz izat atio ion n proj projec ect, t, for for exam exampl ple e a stan standa dard rd deve develo lope ped d by anot anothe herr organization, it is possible to omit certain stages. In the so-called "Fast-track proc proced edur ure" e",, a docu docume ment nt is subm submit itte ted d dire direct ctly ly for for appr approv oval al as a draf draftt Intern Internati ationa onall Standa Standard rd (DIS) (DIS) to the ISO member member bodies bodies (stage (stage 4) or, if the docu docume ment nt has has been been deve develo lope ped d by an inte intern rnat atio iona nall stan standa dard rdiz izin ing g body body recogn recognize ized d by the ISO Counci Council, l, as a final final draft draft Interna Internatio tional nal Standa Standard rd (FDIS, (FDIS, stage 5), without passing through the previous stages. Review of International Standards
All International Standards are reviewed at the least three years after publication and every five years after the first review by all the ISO member bodies. A majo majori rity ty of the the P-mem P-membe bers rs of the the TC TC/S /SC C deci decide des s whet whethe herr an Inte Interna rnati tion onal al Standard should be confirmed, revised or withdrawn.
ISO Standards 1. Quality Standard ISO 9000 is a family of standards for quality management systems. ISO 9000 is maintained maintained by ISO, the Internationa Internationall Organizatio Organization n for Standardizati Standardization on and is administered by accreditation and certification bodies. The rules are updated, as the requirements motivate changes over time. Some of the requirements in ISO 9001:2008 (which is one of the standards in the ISO 9000 family) include a set of procedures that cover all key processes in the business monitoring processes to ensure they are effective keeping adequate records • • •
checking output for defects, with appropriate and corrective action where necessary regularly reviewing individual processes and the quality system itself for effectiveness facilitating continual improvement A company or organization that has been independently audited and certified to be in conf confor orma manc nce e with with ISO ISO 9001 9001 may may publ public icly ly stat state e that that it is "ISO "ISO 9001 9001 cert certif ifie ied" d" or "ISO "ISO 9001 9001 regis registe tere red" d".. It is, is, howe howeve ver, r, impo import rtan antt to note note that that certification to an ISO 9001 standard does not guarantee any quality of end products and services; rather, it certifies that formalized business processes are being applied. •
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2. Environmental Standard The ISO 14000 14000 is a standard standard for environmenta environmentall management management systems that is applicable to any business, regardless of size, location or income. The aim of the stan standa dard rd is to redu reduce ce the the envir environ onme ment ntal al impr impres essi sion on of a busi busines ness s and and to decrease the pollution and waste a business produces. The most recent version of ISO 14001 was released in 2004. The The major major object objective ive of the ISO 14000 14000 series of norms norms is "to promote promote more effect effective ive and effici efficient ent enviro environme nmenta ntall manage managemen mentt in organi organizat zation ions s and to provide useful and usable tools - ones that are cost effective, system-based, and flexible and reflect the best organizations and the best organizational practices avai availa labl ble e for for gathe gatheri ring ng,, inte interp rpre reti ting ng and and comm communi unica cati ting ng envir environ onme ment ntal ally ly rele releva vant nt info inform rmat atio ion" n".. The inte intend nded ed end end resu result lt is the the impr improv ovem emen entt of environmental performance. The ISO 14000 environmental management standards exist to help organizations minimize how their operations negatively affect the environment. In structure it is similar to ISO 9000 quality management and both can be implemented side by side.
3. Health Standard ISO 27799:2008 applies to health information in all its aspects – whatever form the information takes, whatever means are used to store it and whatever means are used to transmit it. The standard specifies a set of detailed controls for managing health information security and provides health information security best practice guidelines. By implementing this International Standard, healthcare organizations and other custodians of health information will be able to ensure a mini minimum mum requ requis isit ite e leve levell of secu securi rity ty that that is appr approp opri riat ate e to thei theirr size size and and circumstances. Health informatics systems must meet unique demands to remain operational in the face of natural disasters, system failures and denial-of-service attacks. At the same same time time,, the the data data they they cont contai ain n is conf confid ident entia iall and and its its inte integr grit ity y must must be
preserved. Because of these critical requirements, and regardless of their size, location and model of service delivery, all healthcare organizations need to have strict controls in place to protect the health information entrusted to them.
How a company gets ISO certified? ISO ISO cert certif ific icat atio ion n is a mana manage geme ment nt tool tool used used to ensu ensure re that that poli polici cies es are are in compliance with ISO standards; a firm may describe itself as ISO Registered or ISO Certif Cer tified ied;; meanin meaning g that that its polici policies es and proced procedures ures have have been been approv approved ed by an accredited ISO registrar.
The Registration Audit When When a comp compan any y has has oper operat atio iona nall poli polici cies es and and proc proced edur ures es it beli believ eves es are are in compliance with the ISO requirements for certification, it can pursue certification by selecting; A Registrar--- an independent firm that performs inspections and audits on behalf of ISO The representative of the ISO registrar will perform a registration audit to determine whet whethe herr the the comp compan any' y's s poli polici cies es and and proc proced edure ures s meet meet the the requ requir irem emen ents ts for for certification. The ISO certification is valid for three years, with continuing audits on a periodic basis.
Surveillance Audits After achieving ISO Certification, the representative of the accredited registrar will return return period periodica ically lly (usual (usually ly at interv intervals als of six months months to a year) year) to determ determine ine whethe whetherr the compa company ny is still still comply complying ing with with the requir requireme ements nts for certif certifica icatio tion. n. These follow-up visits are surveillance audits, which can be as thorough as the registration audit and will include inspection for compliance with any changes that have occurred in the ISO standards since the last audit.
Benefits of ISO The The larg larger er the the orga organi niza zati tion on,, and and the the more more peop people le invo involv lved ed,, the the more more the the likeli likelihoo hood d that that there there are writte written n proced procedure ures, s, instruc instructio tions, ns, forms forms or record records. s. These help ensure that the organization goes about its business in an orderly and structured structured way. This This means means that that time, time, money money and other resour resources ces are utilized efficiently. To be really efficient and effective, the organization can manage its way of doing things by systemizing it. This ensures that nothing important is left out and that everyone is clear about who is responsible for doing what, when, how, why and where. where. ISO's ISO's manage management ment system system standa standards rds make make this this good good manage management ment practice available to organizations of all sizes, in all sectors, everywhere in the world.
Advantages of ISO certification: ISO certification does give organizations many benefits and some of them are discussed bellow; 1. An ISO certified company reaps direct internal benefits. Improved efficiency is achieved since the ISO process includes constant examination and review of all operational operational methods and techniques techniques used in the process. process. The formal formal and published documentation that outlines methods and practices naturally leads to better better consis consisten tency cy in produc productio tion. n. This This docume documenta ntatio tion n also also serves serves as a benchmark for current employees and it is a "must-read" for new staff joining the organization. 2. helps companies to enter global markets as ISO 9000 standards are required in most countries. 3. Certificat Certification ion is earned earned only after an intensive intensive audit by third party Registrars Registrars foll follow owin ing g asses assessm sment ent by a qual qualif ifie ied d consu consult ltan antt and and the the prep prepar arat atio ion n of documentation outlining new quality system procedures by that consultant. This assures purchasers that a common quality level is present and that it will meet or exceed their own internal quality assurance programs. 4. Regardless of the ISO certification type, it is easier to penetrate certain new markets markets where certificati certification on is one of the bids or contract contract requirements. requirements. This is because certification signals that the tender or contract is from a firm that conducts its business in a structured manner with written, formal production methodology. case of existi existing ng custom customers ers or contra contract ct renewal renewals, s, ISO certif certifica icatio tion n 5. In the case provides an edge so often needed in today's competitive marketplace. 6. The ISO process process examines examines relationshi relationships ps between between people people and processes that natura naturally lly lead lead to better better communi communicat cation ion,, fewer fewer mistak mistakes es and a smooth smoother, er, better run operation.
Demerits Although ISO system is no doubt a very effective system but still it has few flaws that one cannot put out of consideration such as; I.
It does not guarantee better quality: Since the ISO system encourages and helps business operations to be run in a structured manner but it does not assure that the output result will automatically be with a better quality. So the businesses have to see the tradeoff between the cost of ISO system and the end result.
II.
Focus on certification: Contin Continuous uously ly improv improving ing the busine business ss operat operation ions s and system systems s leads leads to bett better er qual qualit ity y but but most most comp compan anie ies s mere merely ly focu focus s on gett getting ing the ISO ISO certification and once they get it, they don’t try to strive for continuous improvement even if still there is a room for further improvement.
III.
Validity of ISO certification in Pakistan:
Since the application of laws is not very appreciable in Pakistan so it has been seen that most companies after getting ISO certified don’t really go along with the requirements for certification afterwards. Rather they bribe officials or registrars and stay certified and hence resulting in exploitation of public.
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References http://www.iso.org/iso/about.htm http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISO_9000 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISO_14000
http://ixianconsulting.net/advantage.aspx http://www.iso.org/iso/iso_catalogue.htm http://www.meqa.com/iso_certification_benefits.htm http://www.iso.org/iso/pressrelease.htm?refid=Ref1154 http://www.iso.org/iso/about/how_iso_develops_standards.htm http://www.bizmanualz.com/ISO9000-2000/ISO_background.html http://www.iso.org/iso/iso_catalogue/management_standards/benefits.htm http://www.ehow.com/how-does_4910252_what-iso-certification-process.html
