Quality management standards

A quality policy statement is a brief document developed as part of a business' quality management system. It declares what you consider 'quality' in your organisation and outlines the processes you have in place to ensure that you meet the agreed standards.

What is the purpose of a quality policy?

Quality management policy is important for several reasons. Most importantly, it articulates:

• your intentions regarding quality of your products or services
• your commitment to continuous improvement in quality management
• responsibilities of all staff, especially those with key roles, for maintaining quality of products and services

A written, well-defined quality policy is also required by the ISO 9001 standard and is essential to creating an effective quality management system.

Sample quality policy statement

Below is a template for a typical quality management policy statement which you are welcome to customise for your business.

Sample company name (XYZ Limited)
Quality policy statement

Company XYZ Limited was established in [year] to provide [describe goods, works, services] to the [describe] industry. We are based in [city/town/region] and employ [number] people.

Quality is important to our business because we value our customers. We strive to provide our customers with products and services which meet and even exceed their expectations.

We are committed to continuous improvement and have established a Quality Management System which provides a framework for measuring and improving our performance.

We have the following systems and procedures in place to support us in our aim of total customer satisfaction and continuous improvement throughout our business:

• regular gathering and monitoring of customer feedback
• a customer complaints procedure
• selection and performance monitoring of suppliers against set criteria
• training and development for our employees
• regular audit of our internal processes
• measurable quality objectives which reflect our business aims
• management reviews of audit results, customer feedback and complaints

Our internal procedures are reviewed regularly and are held in a Quality Manual which is made available to all employees.

This policy is posted on the Company Notice Board and can also be found in the staff handbook.

Although the Managing Director has ultimate responsibility for Quality, all employees have a responsibility within their own areas of work to help ensure that Quality is embedded within the whole of the company.

The policy review date is [date].

Signed:................................. (Chief Executive)

Date:.................................

Please note: It is good practice to review your quality policy regularly to ensure that it remains suitable and appropriate to your organisation.