CHAPTER 1:
WHAT ARE ASSESSMENTS?
Assessments are a way of finding out whether an organisation’s internal management policies and processes match up to the requirements laid down in certain management standards. It is the same as an audit. If an assessment finds the specification is being met then the organisation being assessed can be certificated. This means that the organisation is awarded a certificate to demonstrate compliance with the requirements of the standard against which the assessment was conducted.
Each standard addresses one discipline, and has a document defining the specification that has to be met for certification to be awarded. Each specification describes the requirements that must be satisfied in order to provide a sound structure and approach to provide a degree of assurance over the practices and arrangements in the specific discipline the standard addresses.
The following is a list of some of the disciplines that are most commonly recognised as management system standards:
• Quality Management: ISO 9001
• Environmental Management: ISO 14001
• Information Security Management: ISO 27001
The ‘ISO’ number indicates that the standard is published by the International Standards Organisation, and thus is recognised world-wide as the specification for that discipline.
Your organisation, by inviting an approved ‘third party accredited certification body’ to come and assess its systems and arrangements against one of these standards, gives itself the opportunity, if successful, to demonstrate to your stakeholders, customers and the public, as well as staff, that you operate good practice. There is an increasing tendency for corporate customers to demand that potential suppliers are, or become, ISO 27001 certificated in order to win contracts.
The ‘third party accredited certification body’ is itself monitored and approved (accredited), in the UK by the United Kingdom Accreditation Service (UKAS). UKAS is one of a network of national accreditation bodies who have all signed up to an agreement which means that a UKAS endorsed certificate will be recognised world-wide.
A UKAS recognised certificate will have the following mark on it:
