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Types of ISO certification
ISO stands for International Organization for Standardization. It is an international organization dedicated to the development, establishment and promotion of standards. To date, they have published more than 22,600 standards and related documents covering all areas, from production to food safety to accounting and health. Some of the common standards used are ISO 9001 Quality management system, ISO 14001 Environmental management system, ISO 45001 Occupational health and safety management system, ISO 22000 Food safety management system, ISO 27001 Information security management system.
These standards offer an approach taken by international experts. The standards themselves are a set of best practices that define product compatibility, identify security issues, and share solutions and know-how. For example, ISO standards are the reason why an American cell phone can be connected to a service in Europe with little difficulty, why food is offered in a supermarket for eating, and why credit cards can be used everywhere.
Country and location of your organization
ISO standards are developed by groups of experts from all over the world who are referred to larger groups called technical committees. These experts consider all aspects of the standard, including its scope, basic definitions, and content. The development of ISO standards is based on a consensus approach and comments from all stakeholders are considered. The technical committees consist not only of experts in the relevant field, but also of consumer associations, academies, NGOs and the government. The country and location of your organization does not mater for getting your organization certified.
Certification body and its Credentials
In fact, anyone can give you a sheet that certifies that you are ISO certified; but not anyone is accepted for the job (i.e. licensed) - so you need to see if this certification body is accredited or not. So, there it is - like any other provider, you have to do your homework and choose the best one for you. Remember to think about the total cost of the service you receive and the price of the missed opportunity.
Variation in Costs between CB
Different Accreditation of the Certification body cost differently. Each certification body has tied up with different certification body. The CB may charge you differently than other CB based on the method of calculation of cost in registration, Certification, Surveillance, Recertification.
How to select a good CB with low costs
It is important for the certification body to provide the right number of days at a fair price, but you have also spent for the three-year certification period as well as the initial cost. The certification authorities usually offer you a price that covers the entire three years, but it is important to understand what this does not include in these costs. It is based on the size and scope of your organization, the scope of certification, the activities and processes that your organization engages in, and the performance of each of these activities. Although your certification body may not be able to provide consulting services to you, it is important to choose a certification body that provides you the right support at the right time. A competent auditor is what it matters for an better value addition in the certification process
How to cut down the existing certification costs
Integrated Management system
If you plan to two or more ISO standards, you can actually ask your certification authority to do a comprehensible audit of a name. This means that you do not have to go through individual audits for each system (and pay full fees for each of these), but you can do an audit for each of these systems - not only do you save time (integrated audit). takes less time than some separate audits), but - yes, you pay less
Training
To effectively implement a quality system or make changes to new ISO requirements, make sure that personnel are implemented quickly and that new processes are properly, well-studied, and documented. Existing comprehensive training programs make it easier for employees to make changes to their daily routine. In addition, competent and reliable employees minimize the risks and challenges that help your organization save money.
Transfer
Get a quota of more than one certification service to determine all costs, including inspection visits. Ask the certification body if they offer a special price for your type of organization.
Beware of hidden costs. Prevention of unnecessary expenses by discussing the rate with senior management and divisions and, if necessary, apply for transfer of certificate from one certification body to other within the same Accreditation.
There is a lot of training included when implementing a Quality Management System (QMS) indicated by the requirements of IRCA Approved ISO 9001 Course, and many organizations offer many different types of training for those who will be involved in the QMS. If you look even quickly, you will find implementation training, ISO 9001 Lead Auditor Training, ISO 9001:2015 internal auditor training, and ISO 9001:2015 lead auditor training among the different contributions out there, however that is true for you?
If you are planning to be one of the people doing audits of the QMS processes, then you will be considering either the internal auditor or lead auditor training, but what is the difference? The following is some data on what is involved in an ISO 9001 Lead Auditor Course so that you can assess if this is what you need.
ISO 9001 training comes in several varieties, from training to help support the creation and maintenance of a quality management system for a company, to training for individuals who will be certified for auditing the QMS of companies for certification bodies. Here is a listing of some of the most popular ISO 9001 training courses:
ISO 9001 Lead Auditor Course
The ISO 9001 lead auditor training is a four- to five-day training course and includes a test at the end to verify knowledge and competence of the attendee. The course will focus on understanding the ISO 9001 quality management system standard and using the ISO 9001 standard for auditing management systems to assess company processes against these requirements. Role play of different auditing situations will often form part of this training.
The course can only be presented by a company that itself has been certified to present ISO 9001 lead auditor training, and it is only with a certified course that a participant can attain certification as an ISO 9001 Lead Auditor. After this, it is possible to be hired by a certification body (companies that can grant ISO 9001 certification to companies) to audit a company’s Quality Management System against the ISO 9001 standard. This course is often used by implementers of ISO 9001 in order to learn more about the standard and to find out the criteria that will be used by the certification bodies.
How long will it take?
Most lead auditor training is scheduled for five entire days, although some training will differ. In general, the first two days of lead auditor training will be focused on going through each clause of the standard, and explaining in detail what is involved in implementing the clause and what to look for to ensure that the clause is adequately and effectively implemented. The next two-and-a-half days will be focused on how to audit, including audit planning, audit preparation, opening meetings, conducting the audit, following the audit trail, closing meetings, recording a nonconformance, audit reporting, and follow-up.
What is involved?
This second portion of the training will often include role-playing exercises to give the participants some experience in auditing to see what it feels like, and to identify some potential audit pitfalls. This part of the ISO 9001 Lead Auditor Training depends on Guidelines for auditing management systems, which gives “guidance on auditing management systems, including the principles of auditing, managing an audit program, and conducting management system audits, as well as guidance on the evaluation of competence of individuals involved in the audit process, including the person managing the audit program, auditors and audit teams.” The final day will end with a test to demonstrate that the participant has understood the information presented, and will include practical questions like identifying a nonconformance from provided data and writing the corrective action request.
For a comparison and cost of different types of training available for ISO, as opposed to lead auditor training, see this article in the ISO Lead Auditor With Lowest Price in Indonesia.
Who is lead auditor training designed for?
It is important to note that even though training times may vary from provider to provider, the content will stay very much the same. The reason for this is that lead auditor training is required for those who will become an auditor for the certification bodies like IAS that audit individual companies and certify that the QMS is in compliance with IRCA ISO 9001 Lead Auditor Training. For this reason, the lead auditor training must be accredited by an oversight body that provides accreditation to auditors and certification bodies in the country that the training is provided.
In this way, the lead auditor training is inherently designed for certification body auditors and will have this overall flavor of how to deal with a large company-wide audit of all procedures with many auditors, as opposed to a more spread-out audit program that might be found within a company. The audit training will likewise include numerous formal elements, such as a formal opening and closing meetings, which may not be rehearsed within a company. Training is not all that a certification body auditor needs (there is also an aspect of experience doing audits that is required), but it is one element that is needed.
For what reason might you benefit from lead auditor training as an internal auditor?
The fact is lead auditor training is designed for those who are intended to be outside of an organization, it can also benefit internal auditors as well. Internal auditors still need to understand the IRCA Approved ISO 9001 Course requirements in detail, and the principles and practices of auditing are much the same for internal auditors. In addition, the training can give you an idea of how the certification body auditors that will be coming to your company were trained and how they have been instructed to audit.
However, the ISO 9001 Lead Auditor Course is much more expensive than the much shorter internal auditor course, so it is important that you will see benefits from the additional expense and time. Make sure that this is what you want, and need, before signing up.
There is no business without any risks or challenges. Every business faces disruptions which are sometimes unexpected. These disruptions can occur in any form either it may be a result of theft or due to natural disasters, disease outbreaks, etc. Predicting these challenges is impossible. But you can control and manage them by implementing the Business Continuity Management System in line with ISO 22301 standard.
In this article, we listed out the topics such as what is ISO 22301 business continuity management system, why is it important for your business, the benefits you get by implementing the ISO 22301, and also how to get to certified ISO 22301.
What is ISO 22301?
ISO 22301 is a globally recognized standard for Business Continuity Management System. This standard specifies requirements for organizations to control and manage the unexpected disruptions when they arise. This international standard helps to identify the potential risks and threats and gives guidance to respond to and recover from them. It provides effective guidelines to protect your business by building powerful backup systems and processes.
The unexpected disruptions can affect the quality and process efficiency of your business. This may reduce the confidence of the stakeholders in your business processes. Thus, by implementing the ISO 22301 you can continue to provide quality services to the customers/stakeholders. However, the ISO 22301 provides specifications for planning, implementing, monitoring, reviewing and as well as for continually improving your organization’s business continuity management system.
Objective of the business continuity management system
Business continuity management system helps organizations to prepare and take actions whenever the unexpected disruption occurs.
It ensures the continuity of your business process in the event of disruptions.
It helps your business to provide consistent services to the customers.
Why ISO 22301 Certification?
Why should my business get ISO 22301 certification? How will my business benefit from certifying to ISO 22301? There may be lots of questions wandering in your thoughts. Here are the answers to all your questions. By certifying to ISO 22301, your business can gain the following benefits.
Improves quality and efficiency
Reduces the business continuity risks and threats
Helps manage the unexpected disruptions
Enhances stakeholder/client confidence
Ensures customer satisfaction
Establishes the BCMS performance of your organization
Develops the internal management system
Help follow the best practices in the process and system
Also, helps meet the business continuity needs and obligations
Enhances competency
Promotes your business reputation
Thereby, helps achieve new business opportunities
Is ISO 22301 certification applicable to all organizations?
Yes. Whatever the size or type, the ISO 22301 requirements are developed to be applicable to all organizations. Any company that wishes to implement, maintain, and improve the BCMS performance or that wants to ensure conformity with stated business continuity policy can achieve this ISO 22301 Certification.
Process to get certified to ISO 22301
Want to gain new opportunities for your business? Then ensure your system in place with ISO 22301 certification. Here is a simple clarification for you to understand the ISO 22301 certification process.
1.Preparation and documentation
Firstly, the organization which wants to prove its ability in providing consistent performance needs to implement its business continuity management system in compliance with ISO 22301.
Secondly, you should prepare documents, files and records of your organization processes and business continuity plan, etc.
Thirdly, conduct a gap analysis, and find the gaps in the implementation process. Rectify the errors before the certification audit. Also, perform internal audits and take the reports. The internal audit can be done either by the internal auditor who is specialized in the ISO 22301 standard in your organizations or by the auditors from the third-party certification body.
Finally, send a request to the certification body. Your proposal or the scope of your certification should state the process of your organization.
2.ISO 22301 Certification audit
After receiving the application form, the certification will send a quote that includes the audit plan and cost of the certification.
If you have accepted the quote, the certification body will assign an auditing team to prepare a plan and initiate the certification audit.
The certification audit includes 2 stages. The auditors will verify the effective implementation of the system in compliance with ISO 22301 standard criteria.
3.Final report and certification
The certification body will prepare the audit report. If there is no non-conformity, the certificate will be issued to the organization. The certification is valid for 3 years. During this period, the certification body will initiate a surveillance audit in the gap of every 12 months to verify the continual improvement of your system.