Degrees of separation from an overall objective through to typical ISO 9001 requirement.
EXAMPLE 1: There are three degrees of prescription required to reach a requirement for “Human Factors” as proposed by ISO 9001:2015 Committee Draft.
EXAMPLE 2: In order to reach the ISO 9001 requirement for ensuring accurate information through review and approval of documents, five degrees of prescription are required:
EXAMPLE 3:
ISO 9001:2008 clause 8.2.2 requirement: “Auditors shall not audit their own work.”
If we carry the logical progression of prescription, clearly the “best” solution is to prohibit use of employees as internal auditors, and only hire external contract auditors. Most would say this is an unreasonable level of prescription; but why? It satisfies a higher level “how query.”
What makes one “how query” more prescriptive than the next?
Christopher Paris is the founder and VP Operations of Oxebridge. He has over 35 years’ experience implementing ISO 9001 and AS9100 systems, and helps establish certification and accreditation bodies with the ISO 17000 series. He is a vocal advocate for the development and use of standards from the point of view of actual users. He is the writer and artist of THE AUDITOR comic strip, and is currently writing the DR. CUBA pulp novel series. Visit www.drcuba.world
