ISO 9001 Compliance

ISO 9001 2008 is advantageous in that it gives your organization flexibility in the way it chooses to document its quality control system. This is advantageous in that it enables individual organizations to develop the minimum amount of documentation needed in order to demonstrate the effective planning, operation and control of its processes.

The main objective of an organization’s documentation, independent of whether or not it has implemented a formal quality control system, is the communication of information. The type and the extent of an organization’s documentation depends on the nature of the organization’s products and processes, the level of communication skills within the organization, the organizational culture and how formal the communication systems is.

Evidence of conformity is the provision of evidence that what was planned has actually been done and is another objective of an organization’s documentation when it comes to ISO 9001 2008 certification.

Knowledge sharing is the other objective of an organization’s documentation. This information is important in ISO 9001 2008 certification in that it tells certifiers what you are doing with regards to quality control and it also tells customers that you are certified or you are about to be certified.

The general requirements with regard to documentation in the process of ISO 9001 2008 certification is that the organization establishes, documents, implements, and maintains a quality control system and continually improve its effectiveness in accordance with the requirements of ISO 9001 2008.

ISO 9001 2008 specifically requires a documented procedure. This procedure has to be established, documented, implemented and maintained as the certification process is going on. ISO 9001 2008 also emphasizes that the extent of the quality control system documentation may differ from one organization to another due to the following factors:

• Size of the organization and the type of activities
• Complexity of processes and their interactions
• Competence of the staff

According to the specifications, the quality control system documentation for ISO 9001 2008 includes:

• A documented statements of a quality policy and quality objectives
• A quality manual
• A documented procedures required by ISO 9001 2008
• The documents needed by the organization to ensure the effective planning, operation and control of its processes
• The records required by ISO 9001 2008

The requirements for the quality policy are defined in the specifications of ISO 9001 2008. One requirement is that the documented quality policy has to be controlled according to the requirements of clause 4.2.3 of ISO 9001 2008.

ISO 9001 2008 specifically requires the organization to have documented procedures for these activities:

• Control of documents/li>
• Control of records/li>
• Internal audit