David Cole, director at Bywater, explains why data security has become a key requirement when designing or auditing management systems and processes
A recent article on techworld.com reminded me of the number and severity of information security breaches that take place in the UK. According to the article, the UK is second only to the US on the number of breaches and in 2016 alone there were many household names on the front pages of our newspapers for all the wrong reasons.
The latest news from PC 283, the project committee developing the ISO 45001 standard, indicates development is returning to course and it could even be published by the end of 2017. Even though this news is welcomed in many parts the process from here is not assured and, in much the same way that true love never runs smooth, I am sure there will be hiccoughs along the way and more heated discussion behind closed doors.
Quality requires information security – just ask Team Sky cycling about the impact Russian Hackers have!
20 Mar, 2017 | Auditing
As a newly IRCA certified auditor with my original qualification in Mechanical Engineering I thought nothing of updating my knowledge and undertaking continuing professional development (CPD) of my auditing capability to include an understanding of electronics. To this day I remember the difference between my ROM and my RAM and of what is needed to ensure product design and assembly consider key elements of managing electronic components including those with embedded software. This doesn’t mean Apple or Google will be headhunting me to lead them into the future of smartphones or driverless cars, far from it. Technology has moved on and auditing in this field is specialized. In slightly lower tech surroundings I can hold my own and, understanding my personal level of competence, will know when to bring in additional expertise, leaving me to audit other areas of engineering and, more likely, quality strategy and support functions.
21 Feb, 2017 | Auditing, IATF 16949, ISO 14001, ISO 9001, OHSAS 18001, Root Cause & Problem Solving
As professionals with responsibility for developing management systems and for auditing them we often come across instances where the service delivered isn’t what it should have been or we have problems with product quality. As good professionals we investigate and identify root cause as ‘human error’. How real is this and how can we deal with these errors and stop them from hurting us?
Firstly, it is too easy to come up with human error as a root cause for failure – so much so that some customer industries including automotive will not accept it as being a final cause for a supplier failure, the logic being: people only make mistakes because they are allowed to!
