World Standards Day – ISO is 67 years today!

World Standards Day 2013

The World Standards Day (14th October) marks the birth of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) at the first inaugural meeting in London in 1946. The aim of World Standards Day is to raise awareness of the importance of international standards and the benefits they bring to the economy, the society and the technology worldwide. The theme of this year’s World Standards Day is “International standards ensure positive change”.
ISO is a network of national standards bodies (e.g. NSAI – Ireland, BSI – UK, ANSI – USA). Membership has grown from 25 to 164 member nations today. ISO develops voluntary standards within the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC), International Organization for Standardization (ISO), and the International Telecommunication Union (ITU). The current ISO library of standards now exceeds 19,500 standards detailed over 832,685 pages (December 2012). The ISO families of standard 9001 (Quality) and 14001 (Environmental) have led the standards growth. ISO 9001 certifications have grown exponentially over the past twenty years from 46,571 in 1993 to 1,101,272 in 2012. In second place is ISO 14001 with annual certifications growing from 13,994 in 1993 to 285,844 in 2012.

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Smart Electronics Re-certification

Smart Electronics ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 Recertification

Almir Business wish to congratulate Smart Electronics on their recent successful re-certification to both ISO 9001:2008 quality management and ISO 14001:2004 Environmental Management Systems following an intensive two day audit by their certification body, NQA. Desmond Butler, Director at Almir Business Ltd commenting on the results stated that “This result is a credit to the team in Smart Electronics. Achieving zero non-conformities across both standards during a certification audit is something that we are always very proud to accomplish with our clients”. Read more

ISO 14001 Changes are coming….

ISO 14001 Changes

ISO 14001:2004, the environmental management system standard is changing. Currently at committee draft stage, the new ISO 14001 Standard is scheduled for publication during 2015. Following in the footsteps of other ISO standards, the “10 main requirements” format is being proposed and will more than likely be adopted, including “common text”. The new structure includes the following requirements,

  • Context of the organisation,
  • Leadership,
  • Planning,
  • Support,
  • Operation,
  • Performance evaluation and
  • Improvement. Read more

Almir Business goes Scouting

Health and Safety - Scouting

Scouting has a long tradition in Ireland, dating back to 1908, when the first 4 boys were enrolled in the wolf patrol, 1st Dublin Troop. A lot has changed since then leading up to the formation of Scouting Ireland in 2004 with the amalgamation of Scouting Ireland (SAI) and Scouting Ireland (CSI). Scouting strives to develop young people from age 6 ‘Beavers’ to age 20 ‘Rover Scouts’ through defined programmes with a strong emphasis on team, adventure and above all, fun.

The health and safety of all those involved in Scouting is a prime focus. To this end Almir Business is delighted to work with St. Johns 3rd / 14th Scout Group in the generation of their safety statement for their scout hall, located in the historic St. Johns Square, Limerick. St. John’s 3rd/14th Scout Group is one of the longest established scout troops in Limerick and has played an important role in the development of young people over those years. Read more