WHAT IS ISO 9000?

Most of the international standards begin with the letters "ISO", the acronym for the "International Organization for Standardization." This worldwide federation of 110 national standards bodies works to promote the growth of manufacturing, trade and communication among business operations worldwide, through the development of generic quality standards.

The most widely recognized standard is ISO 9000, a basic quality management system that can be used in industries of any size, anywhere in the world. Registration to ISO 9001 (or other quality/management standard) provides objective proof that a business has implemented an effective quality management system, and that it satisfies all of the requirements of the applicable standard. An external, impartial expert called a registrar or CB (Certification Body) conducts an on-site audit to determine whether or not a company is in conformance to the standard. If they are found to be in conformance, they will be issued a certificate showing their address, scope of operations and the seals of the accreditation bodies that give the registrar its legitimacy.

The latest revision of the ISO 9000 standard was released in December 2000. ISO 9000:2000 constitutes a major revision of the earlier 1994 standard. The ISO 9002 and 9003 documents will be discontinued after December 2003, with ISO 9001 becoming the only auditable standard. But beyond changes in the ISO 9000 "family structure," ISO 9001:2000 has been rewritten to better apply to all types of companies, not just large manufacturing concerns. Also, the new structure of the standard was designed to be more compatible with ISO 14001, the environmental management standard.

When the standard was released, a 3-year transition period was set for companies to upgrade from the 1994 standard. The deadline for making that transition was December 15, 2003.

WHAT IS RESPONSIBLE CARE©?

Responsible Care© is the logical next step: an amalgamation of ISO 14001 and OHSAS 18001.
The Responsible Care© initiative was launched in 1988 by the American Chemistry Council (ACC), and remains largely within the province of the chemical industry. Responsible Care© basically consists of three major elements:

1. All of the requirements of ISO 14001, the environmental standard;
2. All of the requirements of OHSAS 18001, the occupational health & safety specification; and
3. Public outreach.

While technically classified as a "voluntary" program, certification to Responsible Care© is required for any chemical company that wants to be a member of ACC. And although the program has been around for about 14 years, the initiative to train and certify independent, 3rd-party auditors is only just now getting underway. Under this updated program, Responsible Care© will be an auditable specification known as "RC-14001."