How do I get certified to ISO 22301?
Published on December 03, 2018
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If you are looking to open up new opportunities for your business and satisfy supply chain requirements by certifying to ISO 22301, then you have come to the right place! We can inform you about the process involved from initial training through to ISO certification.
Firstly, you may have been tasked with starting the implementation of a BCMS with little prior knowledge and have decided to follow the ISO standard as an assurance of good practice. Or you may already have mature Business Continuity arrangements and practices in place and want to pursue certification to support key business objectives.
If required, you could start by arranging in-house training for staff to ensure that the requirements of ISO 22301 are understood. You would then apply these to your organisation by creating or updating the business continuity management system and assessing progress against the standard.
Simply put, the journey to certification can be laid out in the following steps:
- Understand the requirements of the standard, use the plan-do-check-act model
- Conduct a gap analysis against these requirements to identify weaknesses in the BCMS
- Identify and agree on corrective actions to address any nonconformities
- Assign and complete the corrective actions
- Conduct a mock' stage 1 audit covering all elements of ISO 22301
The final step would be to seek out an accredited certification body which provides International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) management system certification and inspection services to organisations within the UK. Examples of these bodies are the BSI and Certification Europe, both of which are accredited to ISO 22301.
You would then arrange a formal assessment to audit your BCMS internally to ISO 22301 with your chosen accredited certification body.
Once completed, the Business Continuity Management Standard lasts for three years and is subject to mandatory audits every year to ensure that you are compliant.
At the end of the three years, you will be required to complete a reassessment audit in order to receive the standard for an additional three years.
What are the benefits to getting ISO 22301 certified?
Certification ensures you have taken the correct steps to protect your business, and that you have equipped your staff with the tools to survive in the event of a major incident or disaster. It also shows potential clients and suppliers you have taken a proactive approach to minimise the impact of incidents.
Our expert business analysts can assist you through every step of the process, and each stage can be aligned with the ISO standard and facilitated via our business continuity management software.
We have successfully mentored our clients to implement and achieve an ISO 22301 compliant BCMS within months, and they have reaped the benefits internally and externally almost immediately.
Written by Aimee Quinn
Resilience Manager at Continuity2
With an Honours degree in Risk Management from Glasgow Caledonian University and 6+ years in Business Risk and Resilience, Aimee looks after the design and implementation of Business Continuity Management Systems (BCMS) across all clients. From carrying out successful software deployments to achieving ISO 22301, Aimee helps make companies more resilient and their lives easier in the long run.
Written by Aimee Quinn
Resilience Manager at Continuity2
With an Honours degree in Risk Management from Glasgow Caledonian University and 6+ years in Business Risk and Resilience, Aimee looks after the design and implementation of Business Continuity Management Systems (BCMS) across all clients. From carrying out successful software deployments to achieving ISO 22301, Aimee helps make companies more resilient and their lives easier in the long run.