5 simple ideas for a clean, green business

So you’ve got the Environmental Management System and the certification… what next? What can individuals working in a business do to make a genuine positive environmental impact? Here are some simple ideas to help you find a few "easy wins".

The Time to Transition is Now!

The deadline for transitioning to the latest versions of ISO 9001 Quality Management Systems and ISO 14001 Environmental Management Systems is September 2018. Don't be caught out by leaving it to the last minute.

Training for Profitability

Training helps to turn the theory of quality and safety into reality. Effective training should be a fundamental part of a company’s management system as it can help prevent many quality, safety and environmental problems from ever occurring.  Dare I say it – training even improves profitability. Some Facts A study by the American Management Association found that companies that INCREASED their training after changes to their business reported: 63% higher productivity. 69% higher profits. 74% higher quality. In contrast, [...]

ISO Management Systems – 5 Questions Auditors Ask

I have quite a few clients due to be audited soon so I thought I’d write about the things auditors tend to ask. Of course no one can predict all their questions (they are human beings after all), but you can bet that the following 5 questions will be amongst them. 1. What is your policy? Quality/OHS/Environmental/Energy/Food Safety or a combination of them into one integrated policy. This is often one of the first questions asked during a certification audit. [...]

If You’ve Got ISO Objectives You Need Action Plans

A recent newsletter was about setting meaningful objectives and targets for ISO 9001 Quality Management Systems, AS 4801 Occupational Health and Safety Management Systems, and ISO 14001 Environmental Management Systems. You know, the sort of objectives that help your business grow, reduce costs and even save lives. If you have objectives you need action plans. Action Plans are simple lists of all of the tasks that you need to finish to meet an objective. They differ from to-do Lists in [...]

3 Tips for Meaningful ISO Objectives and Targets

ISO 9001 Quality Management Systems, ISO 14001 Environmental Management Systems, and AS 4801 OHS Management Systems all require the setting of relevant objectives.  Why? Objectives are goalposts and as such they drive improvement. The reason why many organisations do not reach their full potential or remain stagnant is that they don’t have this mechanism.  They simply run around putting out fires, tackling surface issues, and responding to the “problems of the day” rather than addressing process performance issues based on [...]

Reduce Costs & Improve Performance

Many companies want ISO certification so they can tick a box on tender requests and thus increase their chances of being shortlisted for valuable tenders. This is one good reason but ISO systems can do so much more.  When an ISO system is written with your business needs and goals in mind, when it is tailor made for your products, services and processes then it will reduce costs and improve performance too. In fact, it will be one of the [...]

Do I Need a Quality Management System?

The answer is . . . . it depends. It depends on your current business needs, where you want your business to be in the future, and how you want to use it. The way I see it, every business owner or manager wants to grow their business and reduce costs. Believe it or not, ISO 9001 can help you achieve just that. If you want your business to grow then ISO 9001 can help you to: Win lucrative tenders. [...]

The 7 Major Changes to ISO 14001

The standard ISO 14001:2004 Environmental Management Systems is being revised. The International Organisation for Standardisation’s working group met in early February this year and has produced a draft. The revised ISO 14001 standard will be published in 2015. Once published, it is likely to remain unchanged well into the 2020s. The 2015 version of ISO 14001 will be significantly different from the current 2004 version. But don’t be afraid. You definitely don’t need to chuck your existing system out the [...]

Top 6 Tips: Choosing a Consultant

You know you need to implement a management system be it ISO 9001 for quality, ISO 14001 for the environment, AS 4801 for safety, ISO 50001 for energy, or a combination of these. You’ve decided that it’s too hard/time consuming/risky to do it yourself. You need a consultant. They have to be experienced, highly effective and hold a successful track record. It’s an important decision, one you can’t afford to get wrong. You need someone who’ll ensure project success. Someone [...]