ISO9001:2015 is a quality management standard. It provides a number of ideas that help organisations to improve how they make a profit, and to do it repeatedly. It has ideas on everything from sales, purchasing, design, production, improvement, and all other aspects of how an organisation operates, and how it satisfies its customer. 

Where organisations demonstrate to a Certification Body (CB), like BSI, that they have implemented these ideas, or clauses of ISO9001:2015, the CB may certify them to the standard.

Most organisations have ISO9001:2015 in order to fulfil a customer requirement, or to be able to tender for a contract. It therefore is a way for organisations to try to improve their sales. 

Best Practice organisations go further, using the standard to become better at what they do, becoming more consistent, more effective and more efficient.  In doing so their customer satisfaction and reputation grows, they deliver a product or service that more closely meets exactly what the client wants, and they reduce costs.  It is therefore a continuous improvement tool. 

However, the real benefit in ISO9001:2015 comes from cultural and motivational improvements, where staff are more empowered and happier in their work.

ISO9001 has been implemented by millions of organizations in over 175 countries. Virtually all large, and most medium sized organisations have chosen to implement ISO9001. Increasingly these organisations are only using providers that have ISO9001, and therefore it’s use has grown significantly among smaller organizations

ISO14001:2015 is an environmental management standard. It sets out a number of ideas that help organisations to reduce their impact on the environment.

Where organisations demonstrate to a Certification Body (CB), like BSI, that they have implemented these ideas, or clauses of ISO14001:2015, the CB may certify them to the standard.

Most organisations have ISO14001 in order to fulfil a customer requirement, or to be able to tender for a contract. It therefore is a way for organisations to try to improve their sales. 

However, with the increasing demand for organizations to be greener, Best Practice organisations will use the standard to as a focus for their environmental improvement activities.  This type of organization, using the ideas in ISO14001:2015 as they are intended, can see significant energy and related cost savings, become better at complying with increasing environmental legislation, enhance life cycles of their product range through design stages, and better satisfy stakeholder (including customer and staff) environmental expectations. 

Mote that currently eight of the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals link to the focus and themes contained in ISO14001, making it very much ‘on trend’.

Virtually all large, and an increasing number of medium sized organisations have chosen to implement ISO14001:2015. This is market sector specific, with more take-up, for example, in the construction and manufacturing sectors due to both market and legislative demand.  

In recent times the demand has been in sectors with less environmental impact, such as service areas, in order to demonstrate environmental credentials.

Increasingly these organisations are only using providers that have ISO14001:2015, and therefore it’s use has grown significantly.  

ISO45001:2018 is an occupational health & safety management standard. Of management standards it sits head and shoulders above the range of other management standards 

Like other management standards, it is a document that lists a number of ideas that help organisations to improve.  ISO45001 brings about improvements to the physical and mental health of the organization’s workforce and others affected by its activities.

It is a tool to help organisations reduce accidents, injuries, health issues, and harm in general, with all the associated costs. There is also a significant focus on risk and adherence to legislation in the standard, and conformance allows organizations to demonstrate their compliance with many of their legislative obligations.

Where organisations demonstrate to a Certification Body (CB), like BSI, that they have implemented these ideas, or clauses of the ISO45001:2018, the CB may certify them to the standard. 

Some organisations have ISO45001:2018 order to fulfil a customer requirement, or to be able to tender for a contract, and by implication therefore use it as a way to try to improve their sales. 

However, more and more organisations recognise the benefits of improving their health and safety performance and make a stand-alone investment in the achievement of the standard as their goal. 

Best Practice organisations will go further and base their culture on the use of the standard, from the leadership of the organization throughout to become more effective at what they do, making it a significant and strategic continuous health and safety improvement tool. In fact, this is where the real benefits in ISO45001:2018 are found, from the cultural improvements, where staff are more inclined to take ownership for their own health and safety and the safety of all others. 

Organizations that are committed to sustainability are increasingly aligning their corporate strategies to the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Accredited certification of ISO 45001, the international occupational health and safety management system, demonstrates an organization’s commitment to ensuring decent work conditions, health, wellbeing and equality practices. For organizations seeking to enhance their ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) profile, implementation of ISO 45001 and its alignment to the SDGs sends a powerful message to shareholders and stakeholders including employees, that they truly care for their people.

Virtually all large and increasing numbers of medium sized organisations have chosen to implement ISO45001:2018. This is market sector specific, with more take-up, for example, in the construction and manufacturing sectors due to both market and legislative demand.  

In recent times the demand has been in sectors with fewer health and safety risks, such as service areas, in order to reduce costs and demonstrate health and safety credentials.

Increasingly these organisations are only using providers that have ISO45001:2018, and therefore it’s use has grown significantly, and will continue to grow.

ISO9001 Consultants are subject matter experts in quality management standards.  That means they know how businesses work, how they make money, and the management systems that allow them to do that.  They also understand fully what it takes to achieve ISO9001:2015 Certification.

They have gained experience across a number of business areas through many years working at the coal face, helping organizations to deliver and improve quality for their customers or client base.  They can therefore quickly identify focus areas for organizations, that will both help them improve their reputation and achieve ISO9001. Good consultants understand and can articulate the link between quality and business growth, and the importance of measuring quality improvement.  

The expert knowledge required to implement ISO9001 could be attained by internal staff.  However, the cost to achieve the same competence level as an external consultant is considered prohibitive by most organizations, given that the implementation project is always going to be short-term.  Organizations therefore make the decision to use external consultants.

There are other additional benefits from the use of an external ISO9001 Consultant that organizations do not always consider at the outset.  These include the knowledge of what would be acceptable to certification bodies, and the instant benchmarking that the consultant brings to the organization, where the organization learns Best Practice from others that the consultant has seen.  There are also potential networking opportunities and contacts that the consultant may have, that could prove invaluable. 

Many organizations also retain the services of the ISO9001 Consultant post certification, due to their knowledge of the organization and the implemented systems, to assist with maintaining the quality management systems on an ongoing basis.  This utilises the knowledge the consultant has built-up through the course of the project, reduces spend on internal resource, and ensures ongoing recertification.

Virtually all organizations that implement ISO9001:2015 use consultants to help them. The organizations that do this most effectively are the ones that work closely with the consultant and fully integrate the new requirements into normal working practice.