BS 31100 and BS 10001:2007

March 2008

By Ian Hannah
SQMC Director of Programmes

There are two interesting Standards to consider this month: the first is at the public consultation stage at the moment. BS 31100 provides a basis for understanding, developing, implementing and maintaining proportionate and effective risk management within any organization, in order to enhance an organization's likelihood of successfully achieving its objectives. BS 31100 establishes the principles and terminology for risk management, and gives recommendations for the model, framework, process and implementation of risk management. Will this be a useful Standard for your organisation?

The other has been out for some months now. Maintaining a high level of customer satisfaction is a significant challenge for many organizations so BS ISO 10001:2007: Quality management. Customer satisfaction. Guidelines for codes of conduct for organizations is to be welcomed. One way of meeting this challenge is to put in place and use a customer satisfaction code of conduct. A customer satisfaction code of conduct consists of promises and related provisions that address issues such as product delivery, product returns, handling of personal information of customers, advertising and stipulations concerning particular attributes of a product or its performance.

BS ISO 10001 is intended for use by organizations regardless of type, size and product provided, including organizations that design customer satisfaction codes of conduct for use by other organizations. Has YOUR organisation applied it yet? If so, let us know your opinions on its effectiveness.