QCS International

ISO 9004 was finally published on the 30^th October 2009.   As mentioned in previous blogs, the revised ISO 9004 departs significantly from ISO 9001 and the standards are no longer considered a ‘consistent pair’.   The title for ISO 9004 is ‘Managing for the sustained success of an organization—A quality management approach’ – also a significant difference.

So what is in ISO 9004:2009?

The standard includes quality management as a concept but also deals with concepts including Organisational Learning, Customer Relationship Management, Innovation Management, Investment Management, Financial Management, Risk Management, Human Resources and Ecology.

Sustainability – what is it?

Sustainability of an organisation is now becoming a key issue for the economic community at large – there is even a Dow Jones sustainability index – so this is a genuine attempt to take quality management well and truly into the board room.   There is also a project now underway to list the top 100 sustainable companies.   Just go to The Global 100 for more information.

9004:2009 – why bother there is no certification available…

So why should we bother with the new ISO 9004, after all it’s not a certifiable standard and sustainability something to do with ISO 14001:2004 right?

Well not quite – ISO 9004 is referring to overall business sustainability and in reality providing a structure and frame work to make sure that your business is around in the next few years and that your organisation can responds to any changes that may occur.

But the new ISO 9004 is more than just a benchmark for your own organisation; the standard is focused on your organisation as part of a larger supply chain.

Although many supplier assurance audits are contractual and maybe even based on ISO 9001 compliance, street wise organisations also look at financial stability, the organisations ability to grow , environmental management and health & safety risks as an overall picture of potential new suppliers.

So best practice yes, but with the inclusion of a self assessment tool could ISO 9004:2009 make it out of the Quality Managers office and into the organisation at large?   Only time will tell.

Bearly Stressed…

Koala Bear numbers are declining due to stress induced infections and with the current recession well under way, and the physiological effect that stress has on you and your organisation, current figures are indicating that stress is on the increase and now costing the UK a massive £100 billion per year.

Not all sickness can be attributed to stress but the International Stress Management Association states that typical symptoms to stress include susceptibility to minor illness such as head aches, migraines, irritable bowel and musculoskeletal problems all of which lead to higher absence rates.

With the current trend of company re-organisation and down sizing, this will undoubtedly be putting more and more pressure on the team that remains within your company and, as there is strong evidence that stress and poor management go hand in hand, management teams must now start to recognise stress as a legitimate work placed hazard and actively do something about it.

 A question of compliance…

The Health & Safety at Work Act 1974 requires that employers ensure the health and safety at work of all employees as far as is reasonably practicable.   Great words we all know and recite regularly but are you sure your organisation is doing everything ‘as far as is reasonably practicable’?

Additional legislation states specifically that ‘ill health resulting from stress caused at work has to be treated in the same way as ill health due to physical causes present in the work place’.

So with this in mind why not use HSG218 which offers practical advice on the subject of stress management.

Suitable & sufficient risk assessments…

Start by including stress in your organisations risk assessments but actively look at the controls measures that you are using and audit these to ensure the controls are actively implemented.  

The best control measures are as ever very simple, and may include good communication with (yes actually talking to the people who work for you is a good start!) along with appraisal systems and measurement of sickness, absence and staff turnover rates as an indicator of stress within the organisation.

Don’t forget training is important too so again the HSE has developed a self assessment questionnaire to help managers to understand what behaviours are required to tackle stress.

Don’t forget you must re-assess your risk assessment in the event of changes.   So when there is a significant restructure or even when individuals have their responsibilities changed (e.g. promotion), there must be suitable control measures in place to safe guard against stress.

For those of you who are motor racing fans you will have seen Jensen Button and Brawn GP being crowned as Formula 1 Drivers Champion and Constructors Champion on Sunday.

And for those of you that think Formula One racing surely could not show any kind of environmental commitment, you would be wrong.

As you may know, Brawn GP and Jensen Button were formed when Honda pulled out of racing for financial reasons.   When driving for Honda, Jensen Button was one of the first drivers to use revolutionary KERS (Kinetic Energy Recovery System).

So what is KERS?

Simply put KERS, stores energy lost during braking/slowing down and then allows this energy to be converted back into power for the car.   This is done by either storing the energy in a fly wheel or by using a battery.   This means that the energy can then be used to improve fuel efficiency and therefore reduce the carbon footprint of the vehicle.

So did Jensen Button win using green power?

Actually no – the KERS system was not used by Brawn GP for technical reasons but, Lewis Hamilton won a race this year for the first time in a car equipped with KERS.

The main point is that Formula One racing is now taking an active part of developing green technology for the future that, if successful, will ultimately be adopted by road cars.

The HSE provides a wealth of guidance online and also provides you with the opportunity to download information about key issues.

Many documents however were available only to purchase including the ‘ACOP’ (Associated Code of Practice) documents that are essential to interpret much of the legislation in the UK today.

However, the HSE have just announced that over 250 of these publications, including ACOPs will now become available to down load free of charge.

The documents can be downloaded in PDF format from http://www.hse.gov.uk/news/2009/free-guidance.htm.

Watch Out!   Documents like the ACOPS are very useful only if you have the experience and understanding of the legislation so, before you download and get ready for a cosy night in reading the latest ACOP, just take a look at the other information on the web site.  

There are available very useful and simplified resources which if used correctly can get you up to speed with key H&S issues much more effectively than the ACOPS.