Clause 7: Support

•This clause is sub-divided into the following:

• 7.1 Resources
• 7.1.1 General
• 7.1.2 People
• 7.1.3 Infrastructure
• 7.1.4 Environment for the operation of processes
• 7.1.5 Monitoring and measuring resources
• 7.1.6 organisational knowledge
• 7.2 Competence
• 7.3 Awareness
• 7.4 Communication
• 7.5 Documented information
•Let’s now look into each of these in detail …

Proprietary document of AUSPICE MANAGEMENT SOLUTIONS W.L.L. Unauthorized copying is strictly prohibited
7.1.1 Resources - General
• Organisations must identify and provide the
resources needed for the establishment,
implementation, maintenance and continual
improvement of the QMS, taking into account:
• the capabilities of, and constraints on,
existing internal resources
• what needs to be obtained from external
providers

 
Proprietary document of AUSPICE MANAGEMENT SOLUTIONS W.L.L. Unauthorized copying is strictly prohibited
7.1.2 Resources - People
• Organisations must determine and provide
the staff necessary for the effective
implementation of your quality
management system and for the operation
and control of its processes. 

Proprietary document of AUSPICE MANAGEMENT SOLUTIONS W.L.L. Unauthorized copying is strictly prohibited
7.1.3 Resources - Infrastructure
• Organisations must determine,
provide and maintain the
infrastructure necessary for the
operation of their processes and to
achieve conformity of products and
services, including:
• buildings and associated
utilities
• equipment, including
hardware and software
• transportation resources
• information and
communication technology

 
Proprietary document of AUSPICE MANAGEMENT SOLUTIONS W.L.L. Unauthorized copying is strictly prohibited
 • Organisations must determine, provide and maintain the environment necessary for the
operation of their processes and to achieve conformity of products and services.

• A suitable environment can be a combination of human and physical factors, such as:

• social (e.g. non-discriminatory, calm, non-confrontational)

7.1.4 • psychological (e.g. stress-reducing, burnout prevention, emotionally protective)

Resources -
• physical (e.g. temperature, heat, humidity, light, airflow, hygiene, noise)

• These factors can differ substantially depending on the products and services provided.

Environment
for the
operation of
processes

Proprietary document of AUSPICE MANAGEMENT SOLUTIONS W.L.L. Unauthorized copying is strictly prohibited
 • Organisations must determine and
provide the resources needed to
ensure valid and reliable results when
monitoring or measuring is used to
verify the conformity of products and
services to requirements.
• They need to ensure that the
resources provided:
• are suitable for the specific type
of monitoring and measurement
activities being undertaken
• are maintained to ensure their
continuing fitness for their
purpose
• The oganisation must also retain
appropriate documented information
(i.e. records) as evidence of fitness
for purpose of the monitoring and
7.1.5 Resources - measurement resources.
Continued …
Monitoring and measuring
resources v
 
Proprietary document of AUSPICE MANAGEMENT SOLUTIONS W.L.L. Unauthorized copying is strictly prohibited
7.1.5 Resources - Monitoring and measuring
resources

• 7.1.5.2: When measurement traceability is a requirement, or is considered by

the organisation to be an essential part of providing confidence in the validity of
measurement results, measuring equipment shall be:
• calibrated or verified, or both, at specified intervals, or prior to use, against
measurement standards traceable to national or international
measurement standards; when such standards do not exist, the basis
used for calibration or verification shall be retained as documented
information
• identified in order to determine their status
• safeguarded from adjustments, damage or deterioration that would
invalidate the calibration status and subsequent measurement results
Continued …

 
Proprietary document of AUSPICE MANAGEMENT SOLUTIONS W.L.L. Unauthorized copying is strictly prohibited
7.1.5 Resources - Monitoring and
measuring resources
• When measuring equipment is found to be unfit for its intended
purpose, Organisations must determine if the validity of
previous measurement results has been adversely affected.
• Where the validity of previous measurement results have been
adversely affected, the organisation must take appropriate
action as necessary. 

Proprietary document of AUSPICE MANAGEMENT SOLUTIONS W.L.L. Unauthorized copying is strictly prohibited
7.1.6 Resources - organisational knowledge

• Organisations must determine the knowledge necessary for the operation of

their processes and to achieve conformity of products and services.
• This knowledge must be maintained and be made available as necessary.
• When addressing changing needs and trends, the organisation must consider
their current state of knowledge and determine how to acquire or access any
necessary additional knowledge and required updates.
• Note 1: organisational knowledge is knowledge specific to the organisation. It is
generally gained by experience. It is information that is used and shared to
achieve the organisation’s objectives.
• Note 2: organisational knowledge can be based on internal sources (e.g.
intellectual property) and/or external sources ( e.g., standards, academia).

 
Proprietary document of AUSPICE MANAGEMENT SOLUTIONS W.L.L. Unauthorized copying is strictly prohibited
7.2 Competence
• Organisations must:
• determine the necessary competence of person(s) doing work under its
control that affects the performance and effectiveness of the QMS
• ensure that these persons are competent on the basis of appropriate
education, training, or experience
• where applicable, take actions (such as the provision of training to, the
mentoring of, or the reassignment of currently employed persons; or the hiring
or contracting of competent persons) to acquire the necessary competence,
and evaluate the effectiveness of the actions taken
• retain appropriate documented information as evidence of competence
 

Proprietary document of AUSPICE MANAGEMENT SOLUTIONS W.L.L. Unauthorized copying is strictly prohibited
7.3 Awareness
• Organisations must ensure that those doing work
under their control are aware of:
• the quality policy
• relevant quality objectives
• their contribution to the effectiveness of the
QMS, including the benefits of improved
performance
• the implications of not conforming with QMS
requirements

 
Proprietary document of AUSPICE MANAGEMENT SOLUTIONS W.L.L. Unauthorized copying is strictly prohibited
7.4 Communication
• Organisations needs to determine and undertake the internal
and external communications relevant to the QMS, including:
• what you will communicate
• when to communicate
• with whom to communicate
• how to communicate
• who communicates

Proprietary document of AUSPICE MANAGEMENT SOLUTIONS W.L.L. Unauthorized copying is strictly prohibited
7.5.1 Documented information –
General
• The QMS must include:
• documented information required by the
ISO9001:2015 standard
• documented information determined by the
organisation as being necessary for the
effectiveness of the QMS
• The extent of documented information for a QMS can
differ from one organisation to another due to:
• the size of organisation and its type of activities,
processes, products and services
• the complexity of processes and their interactions
• the competence of persons

Proprietary document of AUSPICE MANAGEMENT SOLUTIONS W.L.L. Unauthorized copying is strictly prohibited
7.5.2 Documented information -
Creating and updating
• When creating and updating
documented information,
Organisations must ensure
appropriate:
• identification and
description (e.g. a title,
date, author, or reference
number)
• format (e.g. language,
software version,
graphics) and media (e.g.
paper, electronic)
• review and approval for
suitability and adequacy
 

Proprietary document of AUSPICE MANAGEMENT SOLUTIONS W.L.L. Unauthorized copying is strictly prohibited
7.5.3 Documented information - Control

• Organisations must ensure that the documented

information required by the QMS and by 9001 is
controlled so that:
• it is available and suitable for use, where and
when it is needed
• it is adequately protected (e.g. from loss of
confidentiality, improper use, or loss of integrity)
Continued …

Proprietary document of AUSPICE MANAGEMENT SOLUTIONS W.L.L. Unauthorized copying is strictly prohibited
7.5.3 Documented information - Control
• For the control of documented information, Organisations must address the following activities,
as applicable:
• distribution, access, retrieval and use
• storage and preservation, including preservation of legibility
• control of changes (e.g. version control)
• retention and disposition.
• Access as referred to above, can imply a decision regarding the permission to view the
documented information only, or the permission and authority to view and change the
documented information.
• Documented information of external origin, that you determine to be necessary for the
planning and operation of the QMS, must be identified as appropriate, and be controlled.
• Documented information (i.e. records) retained as evidence of conformity must be protected
from unintended alterations.

Proprietary document of AUSPICE MANAGEMENT SOLUTIONS W.L.L. Unauthorized copying is strictly prohibited