How To Get ISO 14001, 9001 Certification in Pakistan (Step By step Method)

     Before getting into the steps for getting ISO certification, it is important to know Why ISO is needed?

          It is fundamental to know that ISO was founded with the idea of answering a fundamental question ‘what is the best way of doing this’.  International standards mean that consumers can have confidence that their products are safe reliable and of good quality.

     Some of the benefits of Conforming to ISO standards are;

1. The standards help businesses increase productivity while minimizing errors and waste.
2. The standards also serve to safeguard consumers and the end users of products and services ensuring that the certified products conform to the minimum standards set internationally.
3. ISO international standards touch everyone from enabling you to use your bank card overseas to ensuring your child's toys don't have sharp edges they are used everywhere followed by companies all over the world.
4. ISO standards provide specifications to ensure products and services work the way you expect them to. For companies in some industries ISO certification may be required by law or contractually. 

Now let’s get into the steps!

Steps in getting ISO certificate

Step 1: Choosing the type of ISO Certification. 

      You will need to choose the type of ISO certification required for your business. If you are into the manufacturing sector you can go for popular certification like ISO 9001 for quality management ISO 14001 for environmental management or ISO 45,000 one for health and safety management. Food businesses can go for ISO 22000 for food safety management and so on.

 Step 2: Choosing an ISO Certification Body (CB)

          It is very important that you choose a certification body (CB) which is recognized and credible.  When choosing a certification body you should identify the national standard body in your country recognized by IAF for example in Pakistan, it is Pakistan National Accreditation Council (PNAC) that evaluates several certification bodies.  For example in Pakistan SGS Pakistan(Pvt.) Limited, TUV Austria Bureau of Inspection are some of the well-known certification bodies accredited by PNAC.

          CB accreditation is not compulsory but it does provide independent confirmation of competence.  to find an accredited certification body contact the national accreditation body in your country or visit the international accreditation forum choose CB's that are reputed and experience to provide a certificate in your type of industry. Or visit http://www.isobench.org/search-cb.php   where you can find  Certification Bodies ( CB) in your country simply by typing a few keywords in the search box.  

Step 3: Create an Application.

          The applicant or company and the CB should agree on a contract.  This contract usually defines the rights and obligations of both parties and it includes liability issues confidentiality and access rights.

Step 4: Documents Review.  

        The ISO auditor will review all your manuals and documents related to various policies and procedures a review of existing work will help the ISO auditor to identify the possible gaps against the requirements specified in the ISO standards.

Step 5: Make an Action Plan

       After the ISO auditor communicates the existing gaps in your organization you should prepare an action plan to eliminate these gaps.  you may be required to give training to your employees to work efficiently while adapting to new procedures make all the employees aware of the ISO standards in terms of work efficiency and quality standards.

Step 6: Initial certification Audit.  

     The initial certification audit is divided into two categories stage one and stage two.

Stage 1:  The ISO auditor will audit the changes made by you in the company they will then try to identify the possible non-conformities in your systems and procedures, they will then categorize it as minor or major non-conformities. The company must carefully assess all these non-conformities and correct it is for the desired standards through modification.

Stage 2:  After all the required changes are done in the organization the ISO auditor does the final auditing. The auditor will check whether all the non-conformities have been eliminated or not as per ISO standards. If the ISO auditor is satisfied they will prepare the final ISO audit report and forward it to the certification body.

Step 7: Completing the ISO Certification

       Once the non-conformities are addressed and all the findings are put in the ISO audit report.  The Certification Body (CB) will grant you the ISO certification the format of the certificate will be like this. It is valid for three years.

Surveillance

      Surveillance audit is basically conducted to ensure that ISO quality standards are being maintained by the organization. It is usually is conducted once a year.

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