Top Management is responsible for establishing, reviewing and maintaining the quality policy and quality objectives.
- The quality policy should build on corporate objectives and values and be appropriate to the purpose and context of the organization.
- The policy should demonstrate a commitment to continual improvement.
- The quality policy must be communicated, understood and applied throughout the organization.
The quality policy is often know by other names such as:
- Mission statement
- Vision
- Strategic concept
- Charter
- Statement of principles
Part of the reason why you need a well written quality policy statement is to ensure your employees understand that their job affects product quality and quality control, and therefore the success of the company.
ISO 9001:2015 5.2 now requires your organization’s quality policy and resulting objectives to be appropriate to your organization’s strategic direction and operational direction (context).
This means that once your organization has determined its context and the relevant requirements of its interested parties. Top Management must review the quality policy and objectives, in light of this new information, to ensure continued relevance.
Top Management must ensure their commitment to quality and that the quality policy:
- Is appropriate to the organization and ISO implementation,
- Includes a commitment to requirements and continual improvement,
- Provides a basis for establishing and quality objectives,
- Is communicated and understood within the organization (staff training),
- Is periodically reviewed for suitability.
ISO 9001:2015 requires the policy to be maintained as documented information, refer to Clause 7.5.1a.
You should check whether the quality policy has been applied throughout the organization and that the quality policy is available to any relevant interested parties.
Remember, Auditors during certification audits will wish to test staff's understanding; so internal communication of the quality policy statement is vital for ISO certification and is understood within an organization.
Your internal auditor should check the policy is communicated and understood during an internal audit. A gap analysis tool or internal audit checklist can help with quality policy and quality.
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Resource Person: Barbara Pirola
