Build a fortress with ISO9001
My role, helping others with ISO9001, takes me to all 4 corners of the UK and Ireland. I spend a lot of time driving on motorways, staying in hotels, and eating unhealthy breakfasts, some of which are admittedly tastier than others.
Whilst I must break this habit, it is noticeable that nowadays there are a significant number of those brown signs highlighting tourist spots on the side of motorways. These often feature castles, in particular in the South of Ireland, and I have been fortunate enough to see and visit a number of these on some of my recent trips.
There are, of course, castles closer to home, however it just seems that they are more abundant in the South...there is certainly more focus on them.
This week I was in sunny Limerick where the beautiful King John’s Castle stands on the banks of the Shannon, at what would have been a crossing point, built in 1200 AD. A few weeks ago, I was in Kilkenny where Kilkenny Castle, built in 1195 AD, occupies an elevated site on a fording point of the river Nore, right in the centre of town. Our own Helen’s Tower, perhaps not a castle as such and ‘only’ built in 1867 as a folly, stands atop a steep hill, as many a local runner or mountain-biker will tell you.
Driving is a bit like running, in that it gives you time to think. As I was passing my time this week, driving, I got to thinking that when each of these was built the designer, architect or owner will have evaluated the external issues I have mentioned above along with a host of others, and some internal issues like, for example, the practicality of getting the building materials to site. The final decision on the site and design will have been based on these issues, together with due consideration for any interested parties and their relevant requirements (for example in the case of King John, one of the interested parties was the people of Limerick and their relevant requirements was their physical safety).
Few organizations face such dramatic life or death decisions nowadays, however the need to correctly evaluate their external and internal issues and the needs and expectations of interested parties, and to take action based on this, determines whether they will be around in hundreds or approaching a thousand years. Or whether they successfully build a fortress. There are great ideas for how to do this in ISO9001:2015 clauses 4.1 and 4.2.
Trevor
Trevor Patterson is an Approved Assessor for a Certification Body (CB), and he brings an Assessor’s perspective to Pattersons Consulting. The Pattersons Consulting approach begins with a Gap Analysis from the viewpoint of a CB. This allows clients to know exactly what needs to be done to achieve the Standard, and provides a clear direction to work with clients to fill any gaps. Pattersons Consulting also leaves their clients with a clear outline for any CB of how the client meets the Standard.
The team’s comprehensive understanding and experience of Standards also allows them to bring opportunities for improvement to processes that, as well as making life easier for everyone, helps to better and more consistently achieve client objectives.
This approach has allowed Pattersons Consulting to deliver what suits client needs, and Pattersons Consulting has consistently grown as a result of word-of-mouth feedback.
