Element 5.3 of ISO 9001 Standard requires an organization to establish a quality policy. More specifically, the standard requires: "The management" of an organization to "ensure that the quality policy":
- Is appropriate to the purpose of the organization;
- Includes a commitment to comply with requirements;
- Includes a commitment to continual improvement of the effectiveness of the QMS;
- Provides a framework for establishing and reviewing quality objectives;
- Is communicated and understood within the organization;
- Is reviewed for continuing suitability
You may wonder why we even started talking about this simple requirement of the standard. Well, while it is simple, my work as a consultant and an auditor convinced me that some time thi9sngs are not as simple as they appear. Most quality policies that I reviewed, did not meet all these requirements. A quality policy that meets all the requirements of the standard will help you to transfer required activities into your quality management system, and therefore, establishing compliance with the standard. What if our quality policy does not require a commitment to comply with requirements? In this case you may create your quality management system for any standard.
To illustrate this I invite you to browse the Internet and see what you find in response to "iso 9001 quality policy". If you are not at the computer, I will help you. Your search will show a list of companies that chose to post their quality policies on their Websites. Let's review a few examples:
"We at [company name] believe in total quality. We are committed to achieve total customer satisfaction. To fully realize this commitment we shall strive to: understand needs and expectations of our valuable customers through constant communication and exchange the process details with them; spread detailed knowledge about [] culture and art through out the world through our handicraft items; facilitate growth of local artists in the region; continually comply with the requirements of ISO 9001 : 2000 and improve effectiveness of our QMS." Comparing this set of commitments to the requirements of the standard, you should notice that perhaps the only requirement that is addresses here is to continually improve the effectiveness of the quality management system. While all those "believes" in customer service, understanding their needs and facilitation of growth of their artists are admirable, this quality policy does not meet requirements of ISO 9001:2008 standard.
Let's take a look at another quality policy: "We at [Company name] are committed to value oriented quality from the perspective of the customer. Quality of workmanship and service are encouraged without adding unduly to cost. Quality is primarily dependent upon individual commitment and acceptance of responsibility by each employee for the quality of the products and services offered, both internal and external to the company. Efforts of continuous improvement focus on enhancement of product and process reliability and customer satisfaction." Besides questionable language, this quality policy really does not have anything to do with ISO 9001 2000 standard requirements. If we compare it to the set of requirements, we probably will not find a single requirement that is addressed in this policy.
I did not select these examples because they did not comply with the standard. I picked them from the top of the search results, just to show that most quality policies were not written to meet requirements of the standard. If you think these examples are bad, wait a moment. One of my clients came up with a quality policy that is out of this world: "I improve the Quality of Patient Care and all things [Company name]" No! I am not kidding and I did not misspelled or took any words out of this regretful quote!
If you are working on your quality policy or the entire ISO 9001 quality management system, check out our ISO 9001 quality policy article page. Mark Kaganov is a Director of Operations and a Lead Consultant with Quality Works. The company specializes in consulting, documentation, training and auditing in the areas of quality assurance, ISO 9001 and other management systems.
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