SEVERAL new standardisation trends are already emerging in 2022 and are likely to make a significant impact this year, according to Muhammad Ali, the MD and lead auditor of South African ISO standards training and implementation Specialist WWISE.
He said this year is witnessing the emergence of several countries setting new precedents in terms of standardisation. “Singapore, Switzerland, Germany and Australia are leading the way internationally, while in Africa, Rwanda and Kenya are doing well.”
Ali has also noticed strong demand for certain ISO certifications.
The International Organisation of Standardisation (ISO) is the world’s leading body in this regard, and is responsible for awarding ISO certifications to public and private enterprises. The ISO develops standards as a way of guaranteeing quality, safety and efficiency of products, services and systems.
“ISO 9001:2015 Quality Management System (QMS) is the qualifier of standards to provide assurance to clients that they can deliver products and services to an international standard. With this standard, they will be confident in the knowledge that they will have processes in places and an independent assurance body checking on the quality of their work”
Another highly sought after qualification is “ISO 14001:2015. “With the world going ‘green’, it has become a huge requirement.
“Then there is ISO 45001:2018 Occupational Health & Safety, which is required by the World Bank when they identify a need to provide funding to mining houses, for example. And of course with more and more organisations fearing cyber attacks, ISO 27001:2013 Information Security Management System is in high demand.”
ISO 27001: 2013 is being revised to ISO 27001: 2022 to better reflect the challenges faced by organisations in terms of cyber security. Eleven new controls are being added, and include threat intelligence; information security for the use of cloud services; ICT readiness for business continuity; physical security monitoring; configuration management; information deletion; data masking; data leakage prevention; monitoring activities; web filtering and secure coding.
Ali said the beauty of adhering to standardisation practices is that it yields tangible results.
“It not only brings in lucrative income and increased turnover for clients, but improves business performance and an organisation’s reputation. In some cases it can even completely change the state of a nation. For example, Singapore moved away from corruption to become one of the most well-governed places in the world.
“In South Africa, UNICA Iron and Steel in Hammanskraal is probably one of the best examples of how they have improved after implementing ISO standards and being certified to ISO 9001, ISO 14001 and ISO 45001. They have improved their housekeeping, production targets and client satisfaction that resulted in them expanding and automating processes.”
Ali said the best time for an organisation to consider implementing standardisation is at the beginning of the year. “Prepare your budgets in January or February before the financial year ends so you can begin in March or April and work towards achieving certification by the end of the year.”
He said it is important for clients to procure the services of a consultant who is registered as a lead auditor, not simply someone who has attended a course allowing them to implement strategies.
