Issue 105 – What happened to the Quality Policy?
ISO 9001:2015…
What happened to the Quality Policy?
I appreciate receiving emails with questions and/or comments from readers of this Newsletter… please continue to do so since it provides me with ideas on what these publications should cover. In my last Newsletter (ISO 9001:2015 Newsletter Issue 104) we discussed the topic of “How do I comply with an ISO requirement?”, and now in this Newsletter we will discuss “What happened to the Quality Policy?”.
The ISO 9001:2015 Element numbering…
Element 4 – Context of the organization
Element 5 – Leadership
Element 6 – Planning
Element 7 – Support
Element 8 – Operation
Element 9 – Performance evaluation
Element 10 – Improvement
What happened to the Quality Policy?… I will be the first to admit that as an auditor, asking about the Quality Policy has moved lower down on my list of questions over the years. The Quality Policy hasn’t been in the spotlight as it was a few years back and I think one reason might be that there are less and less “new” ISO 9001 Certifications being issued. When an organization is pursuing ISO 9001 for the first time, the Quality Policy typically led the charge. It was the document that the implementation team would rally around, and then communicate repeatedly to all employees… and then the excitement faded, along with the prominence of the Quality Policy. During this same time period, some internal auditors would use the Quality Policy as a stick to catch unsuspecting auditees… asking where it could be found, how do they know it’s the most recent version, and could they recite it.
Another reason for the Quality Policy taking a back-burner is that it is rarely changed/revised… this has resulted in many auditors hardly looking at the Quality Policy, let alone assessing compliance to it by the organization… myself included in some cases. The Quality Policy recently came up during an internal audit that I was conducting for a Client, when they mentioned that theirs had recently been revised (after remaining untouched for many years… btw, that’s an interesting story for another time). The subsequent discussions delved into why the Quality Policy was changed, and exactly what words were added to it, or subtracted from it.
How do you know it complies?… Based on the situation described above with a newly revised Quality Policy, compliance had to be determined to the requirements stated within the ISO 9001:2015 Standard. Here’s the path that was followed… Upon review of the Standard, the first time the term “Quality Policy” shows up is in Sub-Clause 5.1.1b (…ensuring that the quality policy and quality objectives are established for the quality management system and are compatible with the context and strategic direction of the organization)… in other words, a senior person needs to sign/approve it.
The next occurrence is in Sub-Clause 5.2.1 (Establishing the quality policy)… parts [a] to [d] needs to be reviewed for compliance, with particular focus on part [b] (…provides a framework for setting quality objectives) which implies that each of the key words/commitments within the Quality Policy will have at least one Quality Objective connected to it. For example, if your Quality Policy said that the organization intends to “satisfy it’s Customers” then there needs to be a Quality Objective on achieving a certain level of Customer Satisfaction.
The next occurrence is in Sub-Clause 5.2.2 (Communicating the quality policy)… parts [a] to [c] again need to be reviewed for compliance, with particular focus on part [a] (…be available and be maintained as documented information) which means the Quality Policy is a “controlled document”, subject to all of the requirements stated within Clause 7.5 (Documented information)… which is then followed by part [b] (…be communicated, understood and applied within the organization) which means that a communication initiative needs to be rolled out to all employees.
The next occurrence is in Sub-Clause 6.2.1a (The quality objectives shall… be consistent with the quality policy)… which further supports what was stated above, namely that each key word/commitment within the Quality Policy needs a Quality Objective associated with it. The last occurrence is in Clause 7.3a (The organization shall ensure that persons doing work under the organization’s control are aware of… the quality policy) which just reinforces the need to conduct communication sessions as indicated above under 5.2.2b, for the revised Quality Policy.
Be sure to watch for our next Newsletter issue where I will be answering some of the questions that I get from Readers of my Newsletters about how to implement the requirements of ISO 9001:2015 in a specific and practical way, that will also help improve business performance…
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Need Help?
ISO 9001:2015 Internal Audit Outsourcing (we can do it for you OR with you!)
For cost effectiveness, the Internal Audit function can be outsourced to an external experienced auditor on a periodic basis. This will provide an independent and objective assessment to management, of where process issues may exist, along with identifying opportunities for improvement. It will also provide the evidence needed to satisfy the Internal Audit requirements in the ISO Standards. We have used two different approaches with this service: a) We conduct the entire audit ourselves, or b) We act as the lead auditor, and along with your Team of internal auditors, we complete the entire audit together. This latter approach allows your people to receive guidance and direction from an experienced lead auditor while at the same time maintaining significant involvement in the internal audit process.
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Internal Process Auditor Training for ISO 9001:2015
The two (2) day Internal Process Auditing for ISO 9001:2015 Training Session is focused on a process approach to auditing with the objective being not only to assess conformance of the quality management system, but also to uncover process improvements during an audit. This goes hand in hand with the process auditing requirements found within ISO 19011 and the process approach covered in ISO 9001:2015, which promotes continual process improvement throughout this Standard. An enhanced checklist is developed, and there will be workshops throughout, to reinforce learning, as well as a live, practice audit. If you are looking to meet the ISO 9001:2015 internal audit requirements and to “raise the bar” for your internal audit program then this is the course you should consider.
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Until next time…
Tim Renaud
Helping Business Professionals Reduce Risk and Remove Waste!