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by: MarkKaganov
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Element 5.3 of ISO 9001 Standard requires an organization to establish a quality policy. More specifically, the standard requires: "The management" of an organization to "ensure that the quality policy":

- Is appropriate to the purpose of the organization;

- Includes a commitment to comply with requirements;

- Includes a commitment to continual improvement of the effectiveness of the QMS;

- Provides a framework for establishing and reviewing quality objectives;

- Is communicated and understood within the organization;

- Is reviewed for continuing suitability

One my ask, why do we even talk about this requirement of ISO 9001 2000 standard? I believe, there is a very good reason to do so. Quality policy defines the top-level commitment of your company's management to establish a quality management system in accordance with a particular standard. In other words, what standard will you write your quality manual for, if your quality policy did not specify it? Another reason to talk about it is that most quality policies, per my experience as a consultant and an auditor, do not meet requirements of the standard.

Let's take a look at a few examples of quality policies. If you open your browser and type "iso 9001 quality policy", you will see a list of companies that placed their quality policies on their Websites. For example, let's take a look at a few of them:

"[Company name] is committed to serve it's customers and meet their needs and expectations in the design, manufacture and supply of reliable and innovative technologies and products for [product descriptions] using modern management, engineering and material sciences. [Company name] is committed to continuing improvement of it's products and services to achieve increased customer satisfaction as well as to ensure compliance with the requirements of the Quality Management System and it's continuing improvement." Assuming that this quality policy is appropriate to the purpose of the organization and is communicated, these two requirements are met. Customer needs and expectations may be considered as requirements, so this requirement is also addressed. However, commitment to continual improvement of the effectiveness of the QMS, provision of a framework for reviewing quality objectives and commitment to review quality policy for continuing suitability are apparent.

Another example: "Quality is the heart of our business and key to our goal of total customer satisfaction. Therefore it is our policy to: Consistently provide valued products and services that meet the current and future needs of our customers and suppliers; support each other in the daily use of quality systems, processes and methods to improve every activity constantly and forever; continuously look for means to construct change which provides for significant improvements in quality beyond what can be achieved by continuous improvement methods alone." As you can see, this quality policy did not address any, I think, of the requirements of the standard. Can you imagine their quality manual or the entire quality management system?

I did not select these examples because they did not comply with the standard. I picked them from the top of the search results, just to show that most quality policies were not written to meet requirements of the standard. If you think these examples are bad, wait a moment. One of my clients came up with a quality policy that won my The Worst Quality Policy Prize. They simply said: "I improve the Quality of Patient Care and all things [Company name]" No! I am not kidding and I did not misspelled or took any words out of this regretful quote!

About the Author

Mark Kaganov is a Director of Operations and a Lead Consultant with Quality Works. Before you spend your time into developing or tuning up your quality policy, make sure you check our ISO 9001 2000 Quality Policy.

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