Interested Parties: Who to involve when identifying business context?

25 October 2017

So what or who is an interested party? And how does this relate to the context of a quality management system to ISO 9001:2015?

Interested parties: Who needs to be involved when identifying the context of a business?

To understand what is required, we need to look at the particular clause in ISO 9001:2015, which is:

4.2: Understanding the needs and expectations of interested parties

Due to their effect or potential effect on the organization’s ability to consistently provide products and services that meet customer and applicable statutory and regulatory requirements, the organization shall determine:

a) the interested parties that are relevant to the quality management system;

b) the requirements of these interested parties that are relevant to the quality management system.

The organization shall monitor and review information about these interested parties and their relevant requirements.

So what or who is an interested party?

The accepted definition of this is: person or organization that can affect, be affected by, or perceive itself to be affected by a decision or activity.

So how does this relate to the context of a quality management system to ISO 9001:2015?

In this context, there are a number of persons or organizations that fall within this description, for example:

Detailed below is a table detailing potential interested parties and their relevant needs and expectations, which are listed alphabetically, rather than in a list of priority.

This list is not exhaustive, but indicative. However, the actual interested parties will vary due to the context of the organization and their activities.

Certification bodies

OVERVIEW

NEEDS AND EXPECTATIONS

What are your Certification Bodies requirements, as if these change, can have an impact on your company, for example:

Changes to standards
Changes instigated by Accreditation Bodies, for example; UKAS, which will be implemented by your Certification Body
Remember that it is not only management system certification, such as ISO 9001: 2015, but also any product certification or CE Marking requirements.

The company’s UKAS, or similar accredited Certification Body expects the comply to comply with the following:

Applicable standard(s) that the company is registered to
The Certification Body’s scheme requirements
Compliance to any applicable legal or other requirements that the company have obligations for.

Competitors

OVERVIEW

NEEDS AND EXPECTATIONS

Who are the company’s competitors?

What percentage of the market share they have in comparison to you
Are they local / national / international
Any recent changes in their activity, mergers, acquisitions, loss of their business, resulting in them moving to your company’s customers / clients.

The competitors expect to take business away from the company. Consequently, should understand this and have good business practices in place, so that that they are not adversely impacted by the competitors.

Contractors

OVERVIEW

NEEDS AND EXPECTATIONS

These are not only contractors working at your premises, but also contractors working on behalf of the company:

Contractors working at your premises:
- This could be for installing new plant / equipment:
  - Has this caused a delay / shut down your activity
  - Has commissioning gone on longer than anticipated
  - Can you not meet your contractual obligations
Contractors working on your behalf
- This could be for installing your product into your clients premises:
  - Has this been done correctly
  - Remember, your customer does not see them as a contractor, but as representatives of your company and they may be wearing you company’s corporate uniform
  - Can they damage your brand.

Contractors expect the company to:

Make prompt payment for the service that they have undertaken
Ensure that there are no health and safety implications
Ensure that a good work relationship exists.

Credit agencies and finance companies

OVERVIEW

NEEDS AND EXPECTATIONS

What is your company’s credit rating? Has this been affected by any issue that might result in:

Reduced borrowing capacity
Increased interest rates

These could impact your cash flow and your profit and loss, particularly, if the cost of raising finance has increased.

The bank / financial institutions expect the company to be able to honour any financial commitments that the company has in line with the applicable compliance requirements.

Customers

OVERVIEW

NEEDS AND EXPECTATIONS

The people who use your product directly affect your ability to satisfy their needs. You need to understand the needs, expectations, and requirements of these people, because how they will use your product or service determines how your products or services need to be created. These can be some of your most important interested parties.

The customer expects the company to:

Deliver its products and / services on time and to the correct specification
Provide value for money
High quality
Expectations for design innovation
Provide good communications and a fast response
The provision of installation expertise.

Emergency services

OVERVIEW

NEEDS AND EXPECTATIONS

The emergency services in the UK include:

Ambulance
Coast Guard
Fire
Mountain Rescue
Police

Depending on what the company’s operations are, the emergency services expect the company to take all reasonable precautions to protect the company from incidents in line with those operations.

Employees

OVERVIEW	NEEDS AND EXPECTATIONS
Even if your employees are not purchasers of your product or service, they will want to work in an environment that creates products and services that will meet the needs of your end customers. Nobody wants to create faulty products or services.	Professional development, prompt payment health and safety, work/ life balance, employment security.

Insurers

OVERVIEW

NEEDS AND EXPECTATIONS

This covers a wide range of insurance requirements, for example:

Public liability
- Remember, does any contractor working on behalf of the company, have sufficient cover in the event of a claim against them
Professional indemnity
Vehicle
Buildings
Contents
Product liability

The insurers expect the company to:

Make no or little claims
Maintain prompt payment
Have effective risk management and mitigation in place

Landlords

OVERVIEW

NEEDS AND EXPECTATIONS

If you lease your premises, either directly with the Landlord or a Managing Agent, are there any compliance requirements that are placed upon your company, which may restrict your company’s activities.

If there interest gets sold, what impact may this have on your company, for example:

Lease costs increase, which may have an impact on your profit and loss
Additional compliance requirements / restrictions that may have an impact on your company’s activities.

Landlords expect to company to:

Pay the lease costs on time
Maintain the property / premises in a suitable condition in line with any applicable compliance requirements.

Local Government

OVERVIEW

NEEDS AND EXPECTATIONS

Are there any Local or Parish Council requirements that may have an impact on your company’s activities, for example:

Smokeless zone area
Conservation areas
Noise abatement areas
New developments:
- Housing as well as industrial
- Any potential compulsory purchase issues.

The Local or Parish Councils expect the company to;

Comply with any local legislation or bye-laws
Pay their business rates in a timely manner.

National Government

OVERVIEW

NEEDS AND EXPECTATIONS

Changes to National Government that may have an impact on your company, for example:

Are there are changes to legislation that may have an impact
Change to the National Government that may lead to a change of political direction
Significant one-off changes, for example;
- Brexit
- Scottish independence

The National Government expects the company to:

Comply with the applicable legislation
Pay the applicable taxes as required

Neighbours and Local neighbourhood

OVERVIEW

NEEDS AND EXPECTATIONS

What does the company’s neighbours do and what is going on in the local neighbourhood:

What business / activities do your immediate neighbours do and what impact will this have on the company?
Are there any plans for the local neighbourhood, which may have an impact on the company
Is the type of neighbour changing, for example; changing from industrial to housing or vice-versa.

Local neighbours expect the company to have:

No complaints relating in relation to:
- Noise
- Parking
- Health and safety
- Pollution
- Waste
Consideration to the neighbourhood when planning any changes to the company’s operations.

Non-Governmental Organizations

OVERVIEW

NEEDS AND EXPECTATIONS

These include such bodies as:

Industry watchdog groups
Charity organizations

These organizations might identify what levels of performance and sustainability are expected by your ultimate customers. And, how the company is meeting these obligations, which may not be mandatory.

However, the company may be expected to follow these voluntary arrangements and these may include:

Voluntary principles or Codes of Practice
Labeling and environmental commitments

Regulators

OVERVIEW

NEEDS AND EXPECTATIONS

The main generalist regulators in the UK are the:

Health and Safety Executive (HSE)
Environment Agency (EA)

There are also industry specific regulators that may have an impact on the company’s operations, for example:

The Regulators expect the company to comply with the scheme requirements, where applicable.

Shareholders

OVERVIEW

NEEDS AND EXPECTATIONS

The financial performance and profit of the company is directly affected by the costs of the products and / or services that are offered by the company. Consequently, any shareholders would be interested in how well the company and their quality management system performs.

The shareholders would expect to see within the company;

Good financial performance with a return on their investment,
Compliance with the legal and other obligations that maybe applicable.

Suppliers

OVERVIEW

NEEDS AND EXPECTATIONS

The service provided to the company by a supplier varies according to the company requirements. These are very important interested parties as requirements can vary, for example:

Does the company have significant suppliers that they rely on.
- What happens if the supplier:
  - Stops supplying
  - Goes bust
  - Gets taken over by another company / competitor
  - Become dominant in the market place, that their prices increase

Suppliers expect the company to do:

Make prompt payment for the service that they have undertaken
Ensure that there are no health and safety implications
Ensure that a good work relationship exists.

Trade associations

OVERVIEW	NEEDS AND EXPECTATIONS
There are a number of trade associations that operate within the UK. Each has their own particular membership requirements that companies who are members of these and as such would to comply with these as required.	Trade associates expect the company to comply with any particular membership requirements.

Trade Unions

OVERVIEW

NEEDS AND EXPECTATIONS

A variety of Trade Unions exist that, where recognised, will place obligations on the company, with respect to:

Employment conditions
Working conditions

The applicable Trade Unions would expect the company to comply with:

The appropriate employment legislation
The appropriate working environment legislation

The Trade Unions would also expect to have good working relationships with the company to ensure good working practices.

Utility companies

OVERVIEW

NEEDS AND EXPECTATIONS

The main utility companies, for example:

Gas
Electricity
Water

They provide these services. However, by the company using their services, there are also a number of regulations that the company will have to comply with.

The utility companies expect the company to:

Pay their utility bills on time
Conform to the legal requirements

Understanding the level of risk each interested party poses to an organization helps the organization in classifying and addressing their needs.

Following on from this, some company’s use the identified interested parties as part of the quality / business risk to the company and determine the risks and opportunities that need to be addressed; for example; by undertaking some form of risk assessment, such as:

Interested Party

Needs and expectations

Risk

Action

Priority

Customer

The customer expects the company to deliver its products and / services on time and to the correct specification.

High

Ensure that systems / equipment are robust to maintain effective control of the company’s processes are able to satisfy the customers’ requirements.

High

Regulators

The Regulators expect the company to conform to the applicable compliance requirements.

High

Ensure compliance obligations are maintained:

Equipment certificated to statutory regulations
Waste management controls

High

Reviewed by: Martin Graham, NQA Training Manager / Lead Auditor 12/18/2020