Abstract: . . .  5.4 Certification fees are around £650 per assessor per day. Overall costs depend upon company size and the number of locations involved. • Ask certification bodies for quotes for initial audits and surveillance visits. Many will give an all-inclusive price, including surveillance visits for three years. • Ask your certification body if it offers special rates for small companies. Typically, special rates will depend on how long the assessment is likely to take and what the company’s turnover is. 5.5 The standard requires that companies have trained internal auditors to conduct audits on the system. • For further details, contact the International Register of Certificated Auditors (020 7245 6833; www.irca.org). An internal audit can provide an effective means of monitoring the system and identifying areas for improvement. 6 A healthy system Most companies that wish to, will eventually achieve certification. In doing so, however, they often build systems that are far too complex for their own needs. To avoid this situation: 6.1 Do not create too much paperwork. • Consider using working documents themselves as a way of keeping records. • Challenge every new form that is proposed. Can an existing form be modified to accommodate the change instead? • Keep the number of controlled copies of system documents to a sensible minimum. ISO 9001 does not demand that everyone has a copy of everything. • Use your IT system to minimise the need for paper copies. Give employees access to key documents through your intranet or network. 6.2 Make sure that internal audits are carried out regularly. • Use these reports to monitor the system and drive improvements. • Continually question whether you are running the system or the system is running you. 6.3 Introduce a balanced method for dealing with changes to the system. • The method must be formal enough to maintain management control. • The method must be informal enough to encourage employees to put ideas forward. Otherwise employees will lose respect for the system and may implement changes informally instead. 6.4 Take every opportunity to compare your system with those of other companies, eg suppliers, sister companies and customers. • Use supplier assessment audits. • Use customer questionnaires. • Create a forum for discussion. Expert contributors Thanks to Don Stanley (Lloyd’s Register Quality Assurance, 0800 783 2179); John Hele (BSI Management Systems, 07768 252461). Further help There are other Directors’ Briefing titles that can help you. These briefings are referred to in the text by name. © Business Hotline Publications Ltd 2005. ISSN 1369-1996. Al rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced . . .
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