Why ISO 17020:2012 Manual is Important for Inspection Bodies?

Introduction

ISO/IEC 17020:2012 is an international standard for inspection bodies, which is jointly developed by International Organization for Standardization and International Electro-technical Commission to provide internationally harmonized requirements for inspection bodies, so as to ensure trust, transparency and good practice in their activities. ISO/IEC 17020 gives requirements for the competence of bodies performing inspection and for the impartiality and consistency of their inspection activities. It applies to inspection bodies involved in the examination of materials, products, installations, plants, processes, work procedures or services, etc..

For conforming to this standard and to improve efficiency, productivity and effectiveness, as well as trust of clients in the overall operation of Inspection bodies, they need to prepare complete ISO 17020:2012 documents. During the implementation of ISO 17020:2012, a number of documents like ISO 17020 manual, procedures, operating instructions and forms, etc. are prepared by inspection bodies so as to establish a good working system.

What Is ISO 17020:2012 Manual?

ISO 17020:2012 Manual is the first level of documentation for implementing ISO 17020:2012 system in any inspection body. ISO 17020 manual is a document that describes how an inspection body can implement ISO 17020:2012 system. It describes the system of the inspection body, how the requirements of the standard are applied and the policy of the inspection body. It communicates management’s expectations for competence, impartiality and consistency of the inspection body. ISO 17020 manual is a measure for compliance to ISO 17020 audit.

Importance of ISO 17020 Manual

• It describes the scope of ISO 17020 quality system of the inspection body, i.e. what is included in the system.
• It explains each and every requirement of the ISO 17020:2012 standard.
• It gives understanding of how the management and personnel operate ISO 17020:2012 quality management system.
• It gives the details and explanation of exclusions i.e. what should be eliminated in the system.
• It contains references for the procedures used to describe all the system processes.
• This manual can be provided to interested parties to demonstrate the competence, impartiality and effectiveness of the inspection body’s operations and management system.

Having known the importance of ISO 17020 Manual, it is expected that many inspection bodies will now prepare and use ISO 17020 Manual to establish an effective system.

To fulfill total documentation needs for ISO 17020:2012 compliance and certification, experts at Global Manager Group have prepared a ready-to-use and editable ISO 17020:2012 documentation kit which includes ISO 17020 Manual, procedures, SOPs, sample forms, audit checklists, etc. As today we are discussing about the manual, the benefits of ISO 17020 Manual for inspection body are listed below.

Benefits of ISO 17020:2012 Manual

• ISO 17020 Manual helps in designing an effective quality management system for inspection bodies, conforming to ISO 17020:2012 requirements.
• It helps an inspection body to continuously improve its operations and earn a reputation of “competent, impartial and credible” organization.
• ISO 17020 Manual helps the inspection bodies to ensure that the micro-level system is established well as per the latest requirements of ISO 17020:2012.

Benefits of Readymade Editable ISO 17020:2012 Manual

• Inspection bodies themselves can implement a successful ISO 17020:2012 system without inviting a consultant on the site.
• The user can very easily modify the templates and create the manual for their inspection body.
• Editable ISO 17020 Manual saves time and money in implementing ISO 17020:2012 management system.

Conclusion

If an inspection body wants to establish, implement and maintain ISO 17020:2012 quality management system and looking for compliance as per ISO 17020:2012, it will need total documentation for the same. ISO 17020:2012 Manual is the most important part of documentation. Now ready-to-use editable documentation kit for ISO 17020:2012 are available, which includes ISO 17020 Manual also. Editable ISO 17020 Manual helps inspection bodies save time and money in implementing ISO 17020:2012 system. It also makes the entire process of compliance and certification easy.