ISO Certification can seem daunting with its specialised terminology and standards. To help you navigate this landscape, here’s a guide to some of the most common jargon related to ISO Certification.
Key Jargon and Concepts
1. Accreditation vs. Certification
- Accreditation: The formal recognition by an authoritative body that a certification body is competent to carry out specific tasks. It is essentially the certification of the ‘certifier’.
- Certification: The process by which a third-party provides written assurance that a product, process, system, or person conforms to specific requirements.
2. Audit
An audit is a systematic, independent, and documented process for obtaining evidence and evaluating it objectively to determine the extent to which the audit criteria are fulfilled.
Audits can be:
- Internal Audit: Conducted by the organisation’s own staff or a consultant such as All About Compliance to ensure ongoing compliance.
- External Audit: Conducted by an outside certification body.
3. Non-Conformity
Non-conformity refers to the failure to meet a specified requirement. It could be a deviation from standards, procedures, or regulatory requirements.
Non-conformities are classified as:
- Major Non-Conformity: A significant issue that may impact the ability to achieve the intended outcomes of the management system.
- Minor Non-Conformity: A less severe issue that does not directly impact the management system’s outcomes but needs correction.
4. Corrective Action
Corrective action involves steps taken to eliminate the cause of a detected non-conformity or other undesirable situation. It aims to prevent recurrence.
5. Preventive Action
Preventive action is proactive. It involves steps taken to eliminate the causes of a potential non-conformity to prevent its occurrence. In modern ISO standards preventive action is replaced by risk management.
6. Continual Improvement
Continual improvement is an ongoing effort to improve products, services, or processes. It is a key principle of ISO standards, emphasising the need for organisations to continuously seek ways to enhance performance.
7. Scope of Certification
The scope of certification defines the boundaries and applicability of the ISO standard to the organisation. It specifies the products, services, and sites that are covered under the certification.
8. Management Review
A management review is a formal meeting or report held by top management to assess the performance of the management system, ensuring its continuing suitability, adequacy, and effectiveness.
9. Documented Information
Documented information is data required to be controlled and maintained by the organisation and the medium on which it is contained. This includes both documents and records.
10. Stakeholders
Stakeholders are individuals or groups that have an interest in the performance and success of an organisation. This includes employees, customers, suppliers, investors, and regulatory bodies.
Conclusion
Understanding ISO jargon is crucial for navigating the certification process and ensuring compliance with international standards. Whether you’re aiming for ISO 9001 for quality management or ISO 27001 for information security, familiarising yourself with these terms will help you achieve and maintain certification effectively.
By demystifying these terms, we hope to make the ISO certification process more accessible and less intimidating for organisations striving for excellence in their respective fields.
All About Compliance can help. We have years of experience helping small businesses understand the requirement of ISO standards, and efficiently achieve ISO Certification. Contact us!