New management systems standards for 2011

Just as 2010 saw the publication of ISO 26000, the long-awaited corporate social responsibility standard, and the opening of a consultation on the use of ISO 9000 standards, the forthcoming year is going to present other important milestones in management systems standards development.
The first standard likely to make its mark is the revision of auditing competency standard ISO 17021. It is hoped that the controversial new standard, which was due to be published at the end of 2010, will ensure the quality of third-party certification and go some way to silencing the critics of the current set-up of management systems certification. The new revision replaces the 2006 edition, which focused only on how certification bodies should be structured, governed and operated, and now incorporates requirements dedicated to ensuring the competency of the individuals performing audits. Guidance in the new edition explains that competence criteria for auditing a technical area need to be documented and states that certification bodies have to ensure that auditors are evaluated to confirm they are competent against these requirements.

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