newsdigest
by Dirk Dusharme and Alexander Karolyi
When the International Organization for Standardization meets in Geneva
next month to discuss the possibility for an international occupational
health and safety management standard, they will most likely get an earful
from U.S. representatives. The workshop, with participation of major stakeholders
in the occupational health and safety field, will determine whether a recommendation
will be submitted to the ISO Technical Management Board.
A positive recommendation means ISO would establish a technical committee
in this area. This is a move U.S. industry would just as soon not see, says
Joel Charm, a member of the advisory group to the American National Standards
Institute on occupational health and safety standards.
"U.S. industry's viewpoint is that a standard should not be developed
by ISO at this time or not at all," says Charm.
The reasons are threefold.
First, ISO harmonizes management systems standards around the world, explains
Charm, using ISO 14000 as an example.
"The reason that ISO 14000 got off the ground is that at the time ISO
agreed they should do something in this area, there were about 15 national
standards around the world," says Charm. "Each one was a little
different from the other. Industry felt that having an ISO standard would
be preferable to having differing regional standards. But there are no occupational
health and safety standards around the world, so there is nothing to harmonize."
Second, if ISO were to try to develop an occupational health and safety
management system standard from scratch, it would have to be agreed upon
by all nations. U.S. industry fears that the result would be a standard
that catered to the lowest common denominator, claims Charm. "Industry's
view is that a standard emerging from the ISO arena is not likely to improve
occupational health and safety but in all likelihood would lead to deterioration,"
he says.
For instance, industry by and large concurs with the concept of having employees
involved
in health and safety committees and councils, observes Charm. This idea
is not accepted by all countries. "So what stance should ISO take?"
asks Charm. "How would they harmonize that kind of issue?"
Third, industry balks at the idea of embarking on another standard until
have they gained more experience with the existing ISO 9000 and ISO 14000
standards, according to Charm.
Scheduled for September 5 and 6, the Geneva meeting will deal with a number
of basic issues such as: likely benefits of voluntary standardization for
occupational health and safety standards, possible disadvantages and the
need for ISO to start work in this area. Four breakout sessions will involve
stakeholders from employers and industry, labor, government, and insurance
industry and related interests.
Neither OSHA nor the AFL-CIO were available for immediate comment on their
stand regarding an international health and safety management standard.
Their viewpoints will be covered in next month's "News Digest."
RAB Seeks Feedback on EMS Criteria
Seeks Feedback on EMS Criteria
The Registrar Accreditation Board has released its draft criteria for certifying
ISO 14000 auditors and requirements for accrediting EMS auditor training
course providers.
"The auditor criteria give the requirements that an individual must
satisfy to earn RAB EMS auditor certification," says Joseph Dunbeck,
RAB CEO. "The course requirements detail how training providers must
organize and operate, and the content that must be covered within their
courses in order to achieve accreditation of its EMS course by RAB."
The draft documents are available for public review and comment until August
23, 1996, and may be obtained by calling (800) 248-1946 or (414) 272-8575,
or by faxing (414) 765-8661. The item number for the auditor criteria is
B0722 and B0723 for the course requirements.
Raytheon Sells Registration Unit
Another large company is getting out of the ISO 9000 registration business.
Raytheon Service Co. has sold its Raytheon Quality Registrar business unit
to National Technical Systems. In June, Det Norske Veritas acquired the
registration business of AT&T Quality Registrar.
RQR has been merged with NTS' existing Quality Management Services division
to form National Technical Systems Certification Services Division, which
is accredited by RvA.
NTS performs testing and engineering services on commercial satellites,
air bags, natural gas vessels, and nuclear power plant hardware and systems
to a variety of military and commercial requirements and specifications.
According to the company, this strategic move will allow NTS to perform
certifications for a greater variety of commercial concerns.
PBS Airs Juran Biography
For an in-depth look at the life of one the world's premier quality gurus,
tune into "An Immigrant's Gift: The Life of Quality Pioneer Joseph
M. Juran." This one-hour documentary, presented by Connecticut
Public Broadcasting Inc., is available to PBS stations nationwide. Contact
your local PBS station for dates.
More than 50 interviews with Juran, family members and industry notables
such as Peter Drucker, Genichi Taguchi, Eizo Watanabe, Steven Jobs and Robert
Galvin profile the quality pioneer and his impact on worldwide quality.
The documentary doesn't focus on quality, however, says producer Howland
Blackiston.
"It's a biography," explains Blackiston, who spent five years
and nearly a quarter of a million dollars producing the film. "This
is the story of a humble immigrant who overcame dire poverty and a bitterness
against the world, and went on to make a profound impact on society. It
is a lesson in perseverance, self-reliance and unwavering ethics."
The documentary follows Juran from his birth in Romania in 1904 and subsequent
emigration to the United States in 1912, through a 70-year quality career,
beginning with his first exposure to quality control in 1924 at the Inspection
Department of the Hawthorne Works in Chicago and culminating with his "Last
Word" tour in 1993p;1994.
For more information, contact WoodsEnd Productions, (203) 761-1703.
More info: http://www.juran.com/juran/documentary/
Medical Devices and CE Marking
If you sell medical devices to European Union members, you'll need to have
an established quality management system such as ISO 9000, according to
Victor Clements of Interference Technology International, a United Kingdom-appointed
competent body.
The Medical Devices Directive 93/42/EEC went into effect January 1, 1995,
and has a transitional period that extends through June 14, 1998. Beyond
that date, no medical device can be sold in the European Union without a
CE Marking showing MDD compliance.
The MDD ensures the safety of patients, operators and others using or exposed
to the medical devices. Complying with the MDD signifies that the manufacturer
has not only met essential directive requirements, such as product liability,
but has also addressed issues such as: personnel responsible for product
quality, personnel training affecting quality, complaints, recalls, feedback
systems and the maintenance of quality records.
Those familiar with ISO 9000 may see similarities between MDD requirements
and the international quality standard. In fact, the MDD indicates the need
for a documented quality management system such as ISO 9000, EN 29000 or
the U.S. GMP, says Clements. However, the requirements of these management
systems aren't enough, he adds. Therefore, auditors will audit to the EN
46000 standard, which is EN 29000 (ISO 9000) modified to cover medical devices.
Clements notes that the EN 46000 series of standards is not a stand-alone
series. They must be used in conjunction with a standard such as EN 29000.
Source: Victor Clements, European Community Quarterly Review, 2nd quarter
1996, Technology International Inc., (804) 560-5342.
Waivers Add Process Flexibility
Just because you'll be audited for conformance to a strict quality requirement,
doesn't mean you'll have to give up process flexibility. Waupaca Foundry,
a tier-one supplier to General Motors and tier-two supplier to Chrysler
and Ford, is using customer waivers that enable it to pass a QS-9000 audit
and, at the same time, occasionally deviate from customer specifications.
The problem Waupaca faced last year when applying for QS-9000 registration
stemmed from the fact that they produce unfinished products-castings for
brake rotors, drums and other brake components-which customers machine to
final specifications. In most cases, the default process capability value
(CpK) of 1.33 required by QS-9000 was unnecessary for Waupaca's processes.
For instance, where a dimension crosses two halves of a pattern, there is
more variation, and meeting a CpK of 1.33 for sand-cast parts didn't make
sense, explains Steve Ebert, Waupaca's assistant quality manager.
So, Waupaca asked customers for a CpK value of 1.0. Customers sign a CpK
waiver that defines when Waupaca is permitted to deviate from a specified
CpK value without customer notification.
However, the waiver doesn't mean that the foundry can ease their quality
requirements.
"We also made a general statement that there is no reason that we shouldn't
continue to improve or that we're still not liable for any fall-out that
the customer may experience from problems associated with our parts,"
stresses Ebert.
At audit time, the waivers provide the necessary documentation for auditors
to determine whether Waupaca can deviate from the CpK specification. The
waivers allow the company to satisfy auditor requirements and still retain
the flexibility to make changes without a lengthy customer-notification
process.
The Zen of Downtime Reporting
When Texas Instruments' Motor and Commercial Controls Department in Attleboro,
Massachusetts, established machine-downtime reporting as part of their ongoing
total productive maintenance program, their approach was less is more.
The problem with many machine-downtime reporting systems is that operators
must often manage dozens of downtime category codes, says TI Manufacturing
Engineer Jim DeWeese.
"They try to cover too many areas at one time," explains DeWeese.
"The more complex the codes are, the less people will look at them
and use them to improve the process."
DeWeese and a TPM team of operating and support personnel developed a simple
10-code downtime reporting system that enables operators to view downtime
as it relates to large segments of machine operation. It's much easier to
do a Pareto analysis with the simplified data. And if your analysis detects
a problem with a reporting category, temporary subcodes can be developed
to collect more precise data regarding that specific machine process.
The first five codes are reserved for downtime losses related to specific
machine operations (most machines can be broken down into four or five basic
operations, says DeWeese). Downtime losses are recorded for machine operations
regardless of whether they are caused by machine malfunctions or by material
problems.
The team reserved two codes for planned downtime, one for "operator
absence" and one for "no material." The last category tracks
machine uptime.
Although DeWeese estimates that companies using a downtime reporting system
of this nature may see a 5- to 10-percent improvement initially, he stresses
that this system is not a quick fix.
"The key thing is where you go from there," notes DeWeese.
Akzo Nobel Receives First Joint QMS-EMS Registration
Following more than a year of preparation, Akzo Nobel Chemical's LeMoyne,
Alabama, plant became the first U.S. plant to receive a joint ISO 14001-ISO
9001 certificate.
To prepare for the registrations, a team of 14 managers and engineers investigated
Akzo's quality management and environmental management systems components,
and identified QMS and EMS components that lent themselves to integration.
This is something that would have been missed had the company pursued the
certifications separately, says Kay Higby, Responsible Care superintendent
and chemical engineer at Akzo.
"We probably would not have tried to integrate as hard if we were doing
them separately," Higby points out. "Integration is also a really
positive thing when you are trying to ensure that your employees are aware
of the policies. It's kind of hard when you throw one policy at them today
and then throw another policy at them tomorrow."
To conduct the joint audit, registrar Bureau Veritas Quality International
sent in two lead auditors, one for the ISO 9001 audit and one for the ISO
14001 audit.
"Where the audits overlapped, they worked together," says BVQI's
Randy Daugharthy. "But in the areas where they had different elements,
they split up, and each identified that the customer was compliant with
the standards."
Because the final version of the ISO 14001 standard will not be released
until later this year, the site was actually accredited to the draft international
version of the standard (DIS) by BVQI, which is accredited by UKAS and RvA
to register companies to DIS ISO 14001.
Police Unit Nabs ISO 9002
If you commit a crime in Manchester, England, be sure to wear gloves. The
Greater Manchester Police Fingerprint Unit has become the first fingerprint
unit in Britain to be registered to ISO 9002.
The principle functions of the 73-member unit are to confirm or establish
by fingerprints the identity of arrested persons, identify fingerprints
from crime scenes and produce fingerprint evidence in court. The continuity
and traceability of all fingerprint evidence is critical when a case goes
to court, says Mervyn Valentine, quality assurance officer in GMP's scientific
services division. That's where ISO 9002 registration comes in.
"We recognized that a documented quality management system was required
to form the basis of control for the critical activities of the Fingerprint
Unit, which demand a systematic approach," explains Valentine. "ISO
9002 seemed to be a common-sense standard."
The GMP Fingerprint Unit received its certification from registrar ISOQAR
and now intends to introduce ISO 9002 to other areas of the Greater Manchester
Police.
Can't Get No Customer Satisfaction?
It may come as no surprise that customer satisfaction is closely allied
with organizational quality. However, not all organizations recognize how
to make their customers happy.
In their effort to better understand the forces that influence customer
satisfaction, Total Research Corp., which specializes in the measurement
of customer satisfaction and related post-research activities, has identified
key factors for understanding and heightening customer-satisfaction levels.
Research shows that many highly
satisfied customers don't remain loyal. Organizations need to determine
the factors that must be met to retain customers.
Without commitment from top management,
customer-satisfaction programs usually don't succeed in garnering the resources
needed to conduct quality research and improve customer satisfaction.
If employees believe customer-satisfaction
scores will be used against them, they may sabotage their company's effort
to improve customer satisfaction. Employees must see that improved service
to customers benefits everyone.
It's important for managers to
share the "good news" (i.e., elated clients) with employees. Positive
feedback helps unite those employee teams responsible for increasing customer
satisfaction.
To be useful, customer-satisfaction
research requires action-oriented presentations and follow-up research.
Merely knowing areas of customer
satisfaction and addressing them through good intentions won't augment customer
satisfaction. Improvement comes from formalizing and implementing action
plans.
Effective customer-satisfaction
research must identify those parts of the customers' experiences that influence
their satisfaction the most and target two or three for action.
Most customer-satisfaction improvements
come from changes in employee behavior. Good up-front and ongoing communication
and reward/recognition systems aid these changes.
Every day, new crises emerge to
be dealt with. Effective actions occur by taking "baby steps."
When work plans divide into small tasks, the process becomes easier to start
and complete.
Customer satisfaction is only the
first step in building long-term, loyal customers. After addressing the
factors that affect customer satisfaction, organizations must focus on other
factors that influence retention and loyalty.
Can't We All Just Get Along?
You might think that your employees spend a lot of time battling the fax
machine or insufferable customers. However, they may be spending a greater
amount of time battling something more serious-each other.
Eighteen percent of an executive's time-more than nine work weeks per year-is
spent resolving employees' personality clashes, according to a recent survey
by Accountemps, a staffing service for temporary accounting, finance and
bookkeeping positions.
"Increased market competition and a more rapid business pace are contributing
to conflict in the workplace," explains Max Messmer, Accountemps chairman.
"Company mergers and restructurings have also created a more volatile
environment that can increase employee competitiveness and job insecurity."
Managers can reduce the time they spend resolving conflict if they:
Encourage employees to see their
managers only when they've failed to solve problems with co-workers on their
own.
Encourage employees to be as concerned
with "how" they speak as they are with "what" they say.
Clearly delineate the responsibilities
of managers and their employees.
Encourage a team approach to everyday
workplace projects.
Encourage employees to adopt problem-solving
attitudes when discussing sensitive issues.
More Companies Join Registration Bandwagon
As the 20th century draws to a close, a growing number of companies are
realizing that ISO 9000 and QS-9000 will be the driving force behind their
future success.
Twenty-five percent of responding companies said they have a deadline for
registration or compliance to ISO 9000 and/or QS-9000 by the end of 1997,
according to a recent survey conducted by Tompkins Associates Inc., an engineering-based
consulting firm.
In addition, 33 percent of those companies are presently registered, and
42 percent have a documented quality manual or system in place. Another
38 percent expressed an interest in using proven templates for system documentation.
Other results show that 86 percent of the companies have invested in training
in at least one of the following areas: leadership, team development, continuous
improvement and problem-solving techniques. And 55 percent of these companies
report a "return on the investment in the training."
For full survey results, contact Tompkins Associates at (919) 876-3667 or
(800) 789-1257.
