The Importance of ISO Certification

There are many indicators of quality when it comes to evaluating a business’ goods or services; the most recognisable of which being a certification to one (or more) of the International Organization for Standardization’s (ISO) rigorous standards. These standards are a globally-recognised seal of approval that a business conforms to the quality, safety, and efficiency required by its industry. Examples of such certifications include ISO 9001:2015 Quality Management Systems, ISO 27001 Information Security Management Systems and ISO 4001 Environmental Management Systems, among others.

It is also worth noting that as well as these standards that businesses can be certified for, there are also advisory standards that a business can be audited against but not officially certified for, such as our ISO 17100:2015 Translation Services standard. Whilst you might think that sounds like a lot of effort for no apparent gain, these advisory standards can still provide customers with the assurance that a business has had external verification that it conforms to the requirements of that standard.

Being certified to an ISO standard provides benefits to both the certified business and its customers:

1. Credibility

If a business has been awarded with an ISO certification by an accredited certification body, it means that it meets internationally accepted standards in the relevant field. This means its customers can be reassured that the goods or services they are receiving from the business are of the highest quality.

2. Efficiency and consistency

Working effectively to an ISO standard encourages a business to continuously evaluate and optimise its internal processes. This process of improvement is supported by the frameworks provided by the ISO standards, thereby helping a business to streamline processes, reduce errors, and deliver consistent outcomes. For the business, this often leads to reduced waste, lower costs, and improved productivity. For its customers, it leads to better customer satisfaction and less negative feedback.

3. Compliance and risk control

Many industries are highly-regulated and so working within the framework of ISO standards, such as ISO 27001 Information Security Management Systems and ISO 4001 Environmental Management Systems, can help businesses to stay aligned with legal and regulatory requirements. Similarly, standards such as ISO 31000:2018 Risk Management provide principles for identifying and managing risk within a business’ operations.

4. Market access

Being ISO-certified helps businesses stand out from their competitors. In fact, a survey carried out by Polish company Certiget suggests that an ISO-certification affects the level of trust felt by a customer regarding a business’ products or services, with 86% of respondents saying a certification increases trust. Furthermore, in situations where a contract is required, for example government and international markets, an ISO certification is often a prerequisite to doing business.

Checking ISO certifications

Clearly, being ISO-certified is a great thing. However, a customer shouldn’t take it as a given when a business claims to be certified to a standard. In today’s world it is all too easy to represent ourselves as something we aren’t, which is why it is important to do our due diligence and make sure we have chosen to purchase the goods or services of a quality business.

So how can we check an ISO-certification claim?

1. Request a copy of the ISO certificate from the business

The most direct route would be to contact the business in question and ask for a copy of their ISO certificate. This would provide you with concrete information to base further checks on.

2. Contact the certification body

Once you have a copy of the certificate, it will detail a few pieces of information that can be checked by contacting the body that awarded the certification to the business. As well as stating what standard the certification is for and which body awarded the certification, an ISO certificate should detail the certificate number and a variety of important dates including the issue date and the expiry date. These can all be verified.

3. Use accredited registries

For UK-based companies, UKAS (United Kingdom Accreditation Service) is the national body recognised by government to assess and accredit organisations that provide certification services. On their website, they have a tool for checking certifications called ‘CertCheck’. This allows you to search by company name and should return results about which standard(s) the company is certified to, the scope of the certification, and the certification number, among other information.

For international companies, you can use the certification checker IAF CertSearch provided by the IAF (International Accreditation Checker). If a company has been accredited by one of the IAF’s accredited certification bodies, you should be able to validate their certification via this tool.

So to conclude, ISO certifications are an excellent indicator of the quality of a business’ goods or services. For our part, we are pleased to say that we are certified and conform to the ISO 9001:2015 Quality Management System standard and the ISO 17100:2015 Translation Services standard – feel free to check!