ISO9001:2015 52-Wk Challenge (Week 9) 5.2 Quality Policy

5.2 Quality Policy

This clause is pretty straightforward.  Or is it?  I find the word “policy” to be awkward.  “Policy” sounds so regulatory and “police-y”.  Perhaps this is why this seemingly straightforward requirement gives so many organizations difficulty.

It’s not very difficult to write a policy.  And the standard gives very specific guidance to management as it establishes one.

The quality policy shall:

• Be appropriate to the purpose and context of the organization
• Provide a framework for setting and reviewing quality objectives
• Include a commitment to satisfy applicable requirements
• Include a commitment to continual improvement of the QMS

Looking more closely at each of these:

• Be appropriate to the “purpose and context” means it should align with the most basic needs of the organization.  Why does the organization exist?  What/who are we committed to?  What/who matters?
• Provide a “framework for objectives” means it should communicate a commitment to meet some sort of goal which would support the policy.  This doesn’t mean that the objectives and targets themselves must appear in the policy.  Just that one could infer (quality, cost, delivery) as key commitments (objectives) by the organization.
• Include a commitment to satisfy applicable requirements applies to the requirements of allinterested parties.  Some organizations like to include language like “meet or exceed expectations” in their policies.  That’s at the discretion of the organization.
• Include a commitment to continual improvement might mean the desire to “exceed expectations” or to challenge the quality objectives periodically.

An example of a Quality Policy might be something like:

“We are committed to providing widgets to the automotive industry which meet our customers’ expectations for quality, cost and delivery with a commitment to continually improve the output of our processes in those areas, while satisfying all applicable requirements (customer, internal and other). ”

Or it might be something as simple as a slogan “Quality – Cost – Delivery For Every Customer – Every Time”.

But, the writing of the policy is the easy part.  The next subclause is a little trickier.

The guidelines state also that the quality policy shall:

• Be available as documented information
• Be communicated, understoodand applied within the organization
• Be available to relevant interested parties

A clever slogan or quality policy carefully crafted by a wordsmith can’t meet this requirement on its own.  It’s not difficult to document or communicate a quality policy.  But it IS sometimes difficult to gain a corporate wide understanding.  And then even if you are successful with that challenge, getting the organization to be able to demonstrate that understanding (particularly under scrutiny, as with a third party audit) can be another challenge altogether.

Now, back to that word “policy” or “police-y”.  Just about every company I’ve ever worked with has had an issue on audit days with employees freezing up when asked, “Does the company have a quality policy?”  Every method is tried – posting the policy, hanging a banner, handing out pocket cards, quizzing every employee, preparatory internal audits, etc.  And yet, when the chips are down and the auditor asks, employees may still panic and may not have an answer.  One approach I’ve seen be successful is to learn the quality policy as a “quality statement” or a “quality commitment”.  It’s not enough to present the quality policy to employees, but to talk about the organizations quality commitment, and each individual’s role in maintaining the commitment (policy).

It’s important to have a thoughtful, well written quality policy/commitment/statement.  How it is communicated, executed and applied is even more important.

THIS WEEK’S HOMEWORK

Review your quality policy against the requirements in subclauses 5.2.1 and 5.2.2.  The ISO9001:2015 revision includes a consideration of “context”, so be sure to give your organization’s “context” and “interested parties” some thought.  Does your policy require any revision?

Now take a moment to consider how well understood your policy is with each and every individual in your organization.  Think of the graphic above with all hands in the center of a circle representing a commitment and understanding that everyone knows why they’re here, and that they understand the plan.  Does everyone in your organization have their hands in your circle?  Be sure this is considered and visited often within your organization.