ISO 9000 & 14000
International
Organization for Standardization
International
Organization for Standardization is an international standard-setting body composed of representatives
from various national standards organizations.
ISO is an
independent, non-governmental international organization with a membership of
164 national standards bodies.
Organization
promotes worldwide proprietary, industrial, and commercial standards.
Founded: 23 February 1947
Headquarters:
Geneva, Switzerland
They have
published 23010 International Standards covering almost all aspects of
technology and business. Today they have members from 164 countries and
about 160 people work full time for Central Secretariat in Geneva,
Switzerland.
HISTORY OF ISO
The
organization today known as ISO, began in the 1920s as the International
Federation of the National Standardizing Associations (ISA).
It was
suspended in 1942 during World War II, but after the war ISA was
approached by the recently-formed United Nations Standards Coordinating
Committee (UNSCC) with a proposal to form a new global standards body.
In October
1946, ISA and UNSCC delegates from 25 countries met in London and agreed to
join forces to create the new International Organization for Standardization.
The new
organization officially began operations in February 1947.
The ISO story
In London,
in 1946, 65 delegates from 25 countries meet to discuss the future of
International Standardization. In 1947, ISO officially comes into existence
with 67 technical committees (groups of experts focusing on a specific
subject).
NAMES OF ISO
Because
‘International Organization for Standardization’ would have different acronyms
in different languages (IOS in English, OIN in French for Organisation
internationale de normalisation)
Founders
decided to give it the short form ISO. ISO is derived from the Greek isos,
meaning equal. Whatever the country, whatever the language, we are always ISO.
Developing standard
The experts
form a technical committee that is responsible for a specific subject area.
They begin the process with the development of
a draft that meets a specific market need. This is then shared for commenting
and further discussion.
The voting
process is the key to consensus. If that’s achieved then the draft is on its
way to becoming an ISO standard.
If
agreement isn’t reached then the draft will be modified further, and voted on
again.
From first
proposal to final publication, developing a standard usually takes about 3
years.
The ISO 9000 family
• ISO 9001 is the standard that gives the requirements
for a quality management system.
• ISO 9001:2015 is the latest, improved version.
• It is the only standard in
the ISO 9000 family that can be used for certification.
• There are 16 other standards
in the family that can help an organization on specific aspects such as
performance improvement, auditing, training…
The ISO 14000 family
• ISO 14001 is the standard that gives the
requirements for an environmental management system.
• ISO 14001:2015 is the latest, improved version.
• It is the only standard in
the ISO 14000 family that can be used for certification.
• The ISO 14000 family includes 21
other standards that can help an organization specific aspects such as
auditing, environmental labelling, life cycle analysis…
The ISO Survey
• The
worldwide total of certificates to ISO 9001:2001 at the
end of 2007 was 951 486.
• This
was increase of 6 % over 2006 when the total was 896 929
certificates.
• Certificates
had been issued in 175 countries compared to 170 the previous year.
• The
worldwide total of ISO 14001 certificates at the end of 2007
was 154 572.
• This
was an increase of 21 % over 2006 when the total was 128 211.
• Certificates
had been issued in 148 countries compared to 140 the year before.
Benefits of ISO 9001 and ISO 14001
• International, expert consensus on
state-of-the-art practices for quality and environmental management.
• Common language for dealing with
customers and suppliers worldwide in B2B.
• Increase efficiency and
effectiveness.
• Model for continual improvement.
• Model for satisfying customers and
other stakeholders.
• Build quality into products and
services from design onwards.
• Address environmental concerns of
customers and public, and comply with government regulations.
• Integrate with global economy.
• Sustainable business
• Unifying base for industry sectors
• Qualify suppliers for global supply
chains
• Technical support for regulations
• Transfer of good practice to
developing countries
• Tools for new economic players
• Regional integration
• Facilitate rise of services
More information
• ISO 9000/ISO 14000 section on ISO
Web site:
• ISO Management Systems magazine
• IMS Alerts free electronic newsletter