How to get ISO 9001

Preparing your business for certification to standards such as ISO 9001 or ISO 45001 can seem daunting. If you’re looking to get ISO 9001 certified for the first time (or recertified due to a lapsed accreditation). We can help.

Below you’ll find a step-by-step guide on how to get ISO 9001 certified quickly all the while benefiting from the experience by improving the goods and services your business produces.

STEP ONE: CHOOSE THE RIGHT CERTIFICATION FOR YOUR BUSINESS

The first step for any organisation is making sure that the ISO or Australian Standard (AS) you’ve chosen is the right fit for your organisation. In many instances, your potential customers or clients may require your business to hold a specific endorsement, such as ISO 9001.

STEP TWO: FAMILIARISE YOURSELF WITH THE STANDARD

Buying a copy of the standard can be useful, but isn’t necessarily required. In truth, the jargon involved may even put you off! This is where ISOsafe can add value to the process. We are able to guide you and your business through the ISO 9001 certification process from start to finish. As part of our service we are able to bring experience and professionally prepared systems to ensure your business is certified, without disruption and unnecessary costs.

STEP THREE: LEADING THE WAY

Implementing an ISO management system needs to be an organisation-wide. This can only be done with the involvement of management at each level.

ISOsafe are able to deliver training to all staff and management at your location to ensure good habits are formed.

STEP FOUR: USING A CONSULTANT

We provide consultancy services in addition to training and the documentation needed to get certified to ISO 9001.

Beware of ‘ready made’ management systems which may not suit your organisation.

STEP FIVE: SELECT A CERTIFICATION BODY

It’s important to know exactly what you’re getting when engaging a certification body. JAS-ANZ recognised certification bodies are best placed to issue ISO 9001 certificates.

ISOsafe are able to recommend the most appropriate certification body for your business based on your business’ needs.

STEP SIX: DEVELOPING A MANAGEMENT SYSTEM

The ISO management standards are designed to be generic, applicable to organisations of all sizes and industry sectors. Whilst the standards provide a framework for good management practice, they do not provide detailed steps or information the ISO 9001 auditor may be looking for.

ISOsafe’s experts are able to advise and prepare tailored documents avoiding costly failed audits; making for a faster, smoother certification process.

STEP SEVEN: THE INTERNAL AUDIT

Before any certification audit it is important to have internally audited your ISO system.

ISOsafe’s 9001 experts are able to internally audit your management system, providing a detailed report and documenting all meetings to ensure your certification audit is a success.

STEP EIGHT: GETTING ISO 9001 CERTIFIED

The process starts with what’s known as a ‘Stage 1 Audit’. This is when an certification body auditor reviews your existing systems and provides you with a gap analysis report which will identify the actions required to meet the standard. ISOsafe are able to close any gaps following this audit, making the necessary changes to satisfy the requirements of the relevant ISO standard.

At this point your organisation will be ready to proceed to ‘Stage 2 Audit’. This audit will reveal the effectiveness of your management system and whether it meets all the requirements of the specific ISO standard you wish to be certified to (e.g. ISO 9001 and/or ISO 14001). If you are fully compliant, you will be recommended for certification. The auditor’s report will then be checked via an approvals process and if no anomalies are identified, certification is officially awarded.

STEP NINE: MAINTAINING YOUR CERTIFICATION

The maintenance of your management system is where the hard work really starts. Continued buy-in from everyone is important for implementation to succeed, and for you to gain the true benefit of becoming certified.

ISOsafe are able to provide your business with the ongoing support and training needed to consistently achieve certification.

WHY ISOsafe?

ISOsafe are Australia's leading HR, Employment Law and Health & Safety consultancy firm. We have helped over 3000 businesses with expert training, advice & compliance documentation.

We also develop, implement and audit ISO Quality (ISO 9001), Safety (ISO 45001 / OHSAS 18001 / ASNZS 4801), Environmental (ISO 14001) and Integrated Management Systems (IMS).

Proof ISO 9001 gears your business for rapid growth

When contracting to large businesses or the public sector (government) ISO 9001 acts as a prequalification tool. It lets others know your business has its affairs in order. This is particularly the case for Aussie businesses exporting to the world.

A recent client satisfaction survey conducted by ISOsafe highlighted the benefits of achieving certification to ISO 9001. Here is a summary of the results.

•    The respondents from the survey are most likely to be small or medium enterprises (SME). However, the industries covered are wide and varied; the construction, oil and gas, retail, and technology sectors are just a handful of many found within the survey’s sample.

•    We found that 38 percent of respondents said that they had won business (everyone loves getting more clients/customers right?) as a result of certification

•    The survey also showed that 76 percent of ISOsafe clients found that ISO 9001 certification had helped them to be more competitive. Breaking down that figure, 22 percent of respondents said that ISO 9001 certification allowed them to bid for more contracts, 31 percent said they had won contracts, 20 percent said they had raised their profile, and 3 percent said they now have an advantage over their competitors.

•    Of course, fundamentally ISO 9001 is aimed at providing a framework for organisations to help bring greater consistency and traceability to what they do. This wasn’t lost, with 55 percent of respondents saying that implementation had led to internal improvement.

Anecdotally, our survey has shown that clients tend to fit in one of two camps: those looking for business improvement and those looking to win new business. From an industry perspective, the fear is that if the latter reason continues to dominate, ISO 9001 will be viewed as a tick-box exercise rather than a business improvement tool.

In Australia, ISO 9001 acts as a pre-qualification tool. The idea is that it saves companies both time and money in avoiding having to audit every supplier. Certification provides a level of assurance that rigorous checks have already been done by an unbiased external body governed by JAS-ANZ. The trouble is, meeting the requirements of the standard and truly living it are two very different things.

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