ISO Mistake #9

Letting an assessor dictate the detail of your system

The system absolutely needs to reflect your business; using your terms and terminology, not the assessor’s standard.

We’re not saying that we need to make it difficult for any assessor, and we fully understand that we absolutely need to demonstrate that we meet the requirements of the standard, but we are also imploring you to make it easy for your own people to follow, understand and work.

In addition to which, the assessor should have been fully aware of something called “the process approach”, which was adopted as one of the seven core management system principles nearly 25 years ago. The essence of which means your documentation should absolutely reflect your processes.

 


 

Solution

Push back – it’s your damn business; it’s your damn system!

Your system absolutely needs to reflect your business, using your terms and terminology, not the language of assessor’s standard.

 


 

Resources

Your defence is the ISO management system principle: No. 4 – The Process Approach.

Available to view on the official ISO website.

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