ISO 9000: An Essential Skills Curriculum

RENETTE MUISE

IN 1998, THE NOVA SCOTIA DEPARTMENT of Education received a grant from the National Literacy Secretariat to develop an ISO 9000 Essential Skills Curriculum. The creation of this curriculum was in response to the evolution of the global marketplace which required companies to become ISO 9000 registered in order to remain competitive. A company’s compliance with ISO 9000 standards ensures that it has a consistent Quality Assurance system, and that’s good business. Since ISO 9000 is a documented quality system using procedures outlined by the International Standards Organization, it is imperative that employees understand the importance of obtaining ISO 9000 registration for their company, and how this will affect their jobs and how they perform them.

Essential Skills for ISO 9000

ISO 9000 registration requires enhanced literacy skills to manage the increased need for documentation. This means that workers will need the essential skills that ISO 9000 requires:

• reading (understanding and interpreting job descriptions)

• writing (creating and editing job descriptions and other documentation)

• teamwork (working effectively in a team-oriented environment

• problem-solving (working towards continuous improvement)

• math (using statistical process control)

• verbal (clearly stating and explaining job tasks to auditors)

• document literacy (completing and understanding flow charts and graphs)

• critical thinking (clarifying, summarizing, specifying and generalizing)

The ISO 9000 Essential Skills Curriculum was created to enhance the essential skills of employees. While demystifying the language of ISO 9000, the curriculum takes employees through the various stages of the registration process and describes the standards that the company must meet to ensure quality. Through a series of independent and interactive exercises, employees enhance key essential skills and gain an understanding of the importance of ISO 9000 registration to their company and to themselves. The curriculum is divided into four units encompassing over 300 pages of detailed lesson plans.

Unit 1, Introduction to ISO 9000, is divided into two sections.

• Section 1, The Need for Quality Assurance in Today’s Society, addresses the importance of quality at the workplace, defines quality assurance and why it is needed, and how employees can manage the changes that ISO 9000 brings to the workplace. Workplace Education Programs can be instrumental in helping employees accept and support changes in the workplace.