Regulators and governments rely on ISO standards to develop better regulation for businesses to follow.
Since their introduction 50 years ago, ISO accreditation has evolved to cover everything from the clothes we wear, to health and safety when working at height. As well as ensuring security, ISO also provides guidelines that aim to encourage excellent and professional service.
By adhering to these exacting standards clients and customers can rest assured that they will receive high-quality services that adhere to stringent health and safety guidelines. ISO is often a requirement if you wish to tender for some public sector projects.
An ISO accreditation is not a license that authorises an activity. It simply verifies that a management system, manufacturing process, service or documentation procedure has all the requirements for standardisation and quality assurance.
An impressive 70,000 UKAS accredited certificates are active in the UK today, with nearly 90% involving four of the popular ISO standards below.
The low down on ISO
ISO 9000
The ISO 9000 Certification is probably ISO’s most widely known standard. ISO 9000 is a generic name given to a family of standards developed to provide a framework around which a quality management system can work efficiently.
ISO 9001
This certificate is perfect if you want to establish a quality management system that provides confidence in the conformance of your product. The standard recognises that the word ‘product’ applies to services, processed material, hardware and software intended for, or required by, your customer.
ISO 14001
An Environmental Management System (EMS) is a systematic approach for adequately handling the environmental aspects of an organisation. It is a tool which helps an organisation of any size or type to control the impact of its activities, products or services on the natural environment.
Benefits of ISO Accreditation
- Provides senior management with an efficient management process
- Communicates a positive message to staff and customers
- Identifies and encourages more efficient and time-saving methods
- Highlights deficiencies in your services
- Provides ongoing assessment and improvement
- Evaluated, standardised procedures
- Easy training for new employees
- Problems are quickly detected, and solutions improve
- Suppliers become more like partners
- Overall communication is improved
- Better knowledge of your company by employees
- Improved participation of employees
- Some of the benefits to your customers:
- Improved quality and service
- Delivery on time
- Right first-time attitude
- Fewer returned products and complaints
- Independent audit demonstrates a commitment to excellence
- A better understanding of customer needs
ISO Certification is not just for large corporations – small businesses will also benefit from using a Quality Management System. It will save time, money and improve efficiency resulting in better working practices and loyal customer relationships.
Each to their own
Gaining new consumers is the primary goal for many businesses. This kind of accreditation is usually essential for public and private sector business, while others may be confident that it’s the perfect tool for in-house improvement.
Overall, having ISO accreditation makes a bold statement about your business both internally and externally. It will prove to employees, management and customers that your company is willing to overcome challenges to meet business goals and achieve excellence continuously.
Practise what you preach
Smarter Services holds ISO 9001/14001/18001. In addition to other accreditations such as Safe Contractor, CHAS, IRATA and more to ensure our standards remain high.
