#25 – QUALITY AUDITORS OF FORTUNE – UMBERTO TUNESI

Umberto Tunesi pixI must apologize for having borrowed this line from one of Deep Purple’s most touching songs.

Auditors of fortune?  Yes, that is what we are, indeed: like mercenary soldiers under the command of some  well-paying general or king or emperor.  We mainly audit for money, while the codes of conduct imposed upon us by the personnel certification bodies never mention money. Continue reading

#25 – HOW TO MANAGE A SUCCESSFUL ENTERPRISE RISK MANAGEMENT PROGRAM – TROY HACKETT

SONY DSCMany initiatives within an organization are supported by steering committees, committees that decide on the priorities or order of the business. Audit, IT and EHS (Environment Health & Safety) are just a few common examples.

However, not all steering committees are created equal. They can take on many different shapes and forms based on need, initiative scope, subject-matter expertise and company culture, just to name a few. Continue reading

#25 – HISTORY LESSONS AND THE MUSTY SMELL OF REGRET – MARK MOORE

Mark MooreThe late Dr. Seuss was a favorite of mine (and continues to be even my adulthood).  He taught many lessons that were designed for both children and adults.  His shorter pieces were always fun and among them I hold the highest regard for one titled Too Many Daves.

It’s a simple premise about a woman with twenty-three sons all, as you might guess, named “Dave”.  The story briefly explains her exploits in calling the boys into the house, getting all twenty-three when she only wanted one.  She muses about a different life where she had named them all something different, but in the end, Seuss finishes with, “But she didn’t do it and now it’s too late.”  You can just smell the dank, musty aroma of regret hanging on that poor woman’s head. Continue reading

#24 – AMBIGUITIES IN ISO 9001: 2015 INITIAL OBSERVATIONS PART II – DAVID HOYLE

David in Office (2)In this second article, I’m looking at areas of possible confusion and ambiguities in ISO 9001 (2015). My first article can be found at ISO 9001: (2015) Initial Observations.

AMBIGUITY OVER THE MEANING OF A QUALITY MANAGEMENT SYSTEM
Among the definitions in section 3 in ISO 9001 (2015) is the definition of a management system which goes like this: “set of interrelated or interacting elements of an organisation to establish policies and objectives and processes to achieve those objectives”.  Hence a quality management system would appear to be a system that establishes quality policies and quality objectives and quality processes to achieve those quality objectives.  But when one reads this closely it reads as though the system only establishes policies, objectives and processes; it does not read as though the system includes the processes and if it doesn’t include the processes, what indeed are its outputs and outcomes?

Continue reading

#24 – GRESHAM’S LAW OF ISO CERTIFICATION – GREG HUTCHINS

Greg Hutchins pixWe’ve been involved with ISO management systems since 1987 since the first ISO 9001 standard was developed.  We consulted and  trained with the first NA ISO registrar (certification body).

A long time ago.  We’ve see the growth of the certification industry and have a number of lessons learned.  What’s one of our biggest lessons learned? Continue reading