REFS Quality Management System

The REFS has been audited and found to be in accordance with the requirements of the management system ISO 9001:2015. The REFS successfully completed its certification audit on 16 December 2021, and was issued its certification on 4 February 2022 (renewed in December 2022).

In order to obtain certification of having met ISO 9001:2015 standard requirements, the REFS demonstrated its ability to consistently provide services that meet customer and applicable statutory and regulatory requirements.

It has also demonstrated its efforts and success in enhancing customer satisfaction through the effective application of the system, including processes for improvement of the system and the assurance of conformity to customer and applicable statutory and regulatory requirements.

What is ISO 9001?

ISO 9001 sets out the criteria for a quality management system and can be used by any organization, large or small, regardless of its field of activity. This standard is based on a number of quality management principles including a strong customer focus, the motivation and implication of top management, the process approach and continual improvement. Using ISO 9001 helps ensure that customers get consistent, good-quality services.

Why is ISO 9001 important?

As stated above, ISO 9001:2015 is an internationally recognized standard for creating, implementing, and maintaining a Quality Management System. As an international standard, it is recognized as the basis for any institution to create a system to ensure customer satisfaction and improvement. ISO 9001 certification provides the stakeholders with the reassurance that the REFS Quality Management System is based on the seven quality management principles of ISO 9001:

QMP1 – Customer Focus: the principle focuses on knowing the REFS customer needs and requirements, ensuring the communication throughoutthe process, and measuring the satisfaction of our customer as a way of measuring if the requirements, spoken or unspoken, have been met.

QMP2 – Leadership Importance of Top Management: this principle states that raising the awareness of institutional top management is fundamental in applying and making effective the quality management principles.

QMP3 – Engagement of People: REFS staff through their specific competences and skills is primarily engaged in the processes to build value in them. By having empowered and engaged people in the processes, this can become a driving force behind meeting the REFS objectives.

QMP4 – The Process Approach: Trying to understand, control and improve an overall system can often be complicated, which can make any efforts doomed to failure. However, by looking at the overall system as smaller interrelated processes, the REFS can focus its efforts toward more consistent and predictable results on the individual processes of the system.

QMP5 – Improvement: the whole idea of having a quality policy, with objectives that are consistent with this policy, works toward improvement. Objectives need to be planned and SMART (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, Time-based), and will not work without commitment to change.

QMP6 – Evidence-based decision making: there is a focus on monitoring and measurement in the ISO 9001 requirements. In order to know that a process is functioning properly, the REFS needs adequate data, and in order to plan and assess improvements this data is even more important. Because of this, maintaining good records (and KPIs) becomes crucial to facilitate all other Quality Management Principles.

QMP7 – Relationship Management: the relationships and interactions with the stakeholders, employees and suppliers can influence straightforwardly the performance of the REFS.

What is a quality management system?

The Quality Management System, which is often referred to as a QMS, is a collection of policies, processes, documented procedures, and records. This collection of documentation defines the set of internal rules that will govern how your organization creates and delivers your product or service to your customers. The QMS must be tailored to the needs of the REFS and the services provided and hence the ISO 9001 standard provides a set of guidelines to help make sure that the REFS does not miss any important elements that a QMS needs to be successful.

What is the quality policy in ISO 9001?

A quality policy is a brief statement that aligns with the REFS's purpose and strategic direction, provides a framework for quality objectives, and includes a commitment to meet applicable requirements (ISO 9001, customer, statutory or regulatory) as well as to continually improve.

The quality policy should build on corporate objectives and values and be appropriate to the purpose and context of the organization. The policy should demonstrate a commitment to continual improvement. The quality policy must be communicated, understood and applied throughout the organization.