Readiness Review for ISO Certification: Why You Need It

An organization that needs an ISO certification such as ISO 9001, ISO 27001, ISO 14001, or any other to strengthen its specific management approach must go through a readiness review. It is a prerequisite for certification because it ensures compliance of the management system with requirements of the ISO standard.

A readiness review assessment done by ISO specialized experts helps you know the key milestones your business has achieved in its compliance journey and what is still left to be achieved. An efficient review hence ensures that you get certified sooner by pointing out the major nonconformities which need to be corrected. The review must be conducted by a third-party certification services agency that offers review services. Their professional auditors will assess your management system, examine the internal processes it integrates with, and find out the level of its compliance with the ISO standard.

In the next section, we have discussed why conducting a readiness review in your organization is a prerequisite to obtaining any of the ISO certifications. 



Benefits of Performing Readiness Review for Your Organization


Better Understanding of the ISO Standard

Even though readiness assessment is not a mandatory step mentioned by ISO in its guidelines, it still is essential for you to have a much better understanding of the standard you aim to achieve. Experts in ISO standards have a comprehensive understanding of the standard’s requirements and so can pass on their knowledge to you during the review process. When the compliance experts examine your management system and processes, they will point out the discrepancies with the standard.  As a result, you can know what more needs to be done in order to make your management system compliant.

Also, the review provides a wonderful opportunity to get experience with the audit processes so that you have a smoother experience with future compliance maintenance audits.


Promote Cooperation and Collective Participation

Your organization should arrange a readiness assessment for another vital reason—to make everyone in your organization more aware of the compliance requirements. In case your organization’s employees or executives, at all levels, do not act enough responsibly in their roles to achieve ISO compliance, the readiness review can help to bring them on the same page. When it is time for the assessment officers to visit and audit your management system for compliance, it creates a sense of urgency where everyone can collaborate to make the management system conform to the standard’s requirements.


Compliance Assurance

By performing the readiness review, you can be reassured about the ISO compliance of your concerned management system and can pass the external certification audit more smoothly. It increases the chances that your organization will be granted the chosen ISO certification in the first application request. During the readiness assessment, you are inviting ISO specialized auditors to review your management system and so they can instantly identify gaps in it against the compliance requirements. They will them produce a report that outlines those gaps and recommend appropriate measures to cover them.  

 

Bottom Line

A readiness review performed by a trusted ISO certification services agency is necessary if you want to obtain a certification faster and efficiently.  The review helps to keep your management system as well as your organization’s members on the same page before the final certification audit takes place.

Besides thoroughly assessing your management system, they will also provide meaningful suggestions to close your compliance gaps.  They can provide you with useful ideas on how to improve certain areas of your management system so that it becomes more effective, rather than only being ISO compliant.


Contact Details:

Business Name: Compliancehelp Consulting, LLC

Email Id: info@quality-assurance.com

Phone No: 877 238 5855


Also Read: Benefits Your Business is Missing Out Without an ISO Certification

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