Milwaukee WI — A mass email by the American Society for Quality has been released into the wild, as a promotional effort to sell books on the upcoming amendment to ISO 9001.
The email includes a breathless exclamation that “The latest version of ISO 9001 is almost here!” and then includes is subtle, but misleading, claim that “you will have 24 months from the date of release to certify to the new revision.” The email goes on to “Get the revised version and get a head start!” (In both cases, bold face and exclamations are in the original text.)
The email then links to an ASQ online store page which includes much of the same language (see image at right). This page offers two books for sale, the Pocket Guide to ISO 9001:2008 by Dennis Arter and J.P. Russel, and ISO 9001:2008 Audits Made Easy by Ann Phillips. Arter and Russel are both active members in the US TAG to TC 176, the American delegation which helps author the ISO 9001 standard.
The deception by ASQ is revealed as one learns more about the actual nature of ISO 9001:2008 itself. Not a “revision” but officially released by ISO as an “amendment” the standard includes no new requirements at all, and companies currently certified to ISO 9001:2000 will have to do absolutely nothing to comply with the new version.
According to an official IAF-ISO Joint Communique, “ISO [recognizes] that ISO 9001:2008 introduces no new requirements. ISO 9001:2008 only introduces clarifications to the existing requirements of ISO 9001:2000….”
The communique goes on to note that, “Certification of conformity to ISO 9001:2008 … after a routine surveillance or recertification audit against ISO 9001:2008. One year after publication of ISO 9001:2008 all accredited certifications issued (new certifications or recertifications) shall be to ISO 9001:2008.”
In short, any company currently certified to ISO 9001:2000 will be automatically converted to ISO 9001:2008 during normal surveillance.Because the new standard “contains no new requirements” there will be no need fo the company to do anything to comply with it.
ASQ’s erroneous usage of the words “revised” and “new revision” are intentional mischaracterizations of the new standard’s content, arguably used merely to sell its books. That the books in question are authored by some of the members that actually write the standard further aggrieves. Finally, ASQ’s exclamatory statements that “you will have 24 months from the date of release to certify to the new revision” clearly implies that some work is required by the company to implement the new standard, contrary to the official information being released by ISO and other bodies.
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
