Clause 6.4 Work environment

Resources are incomplete if the work environment is not considered. Working conditions can influence the quality of product and/or service, and should therefore be controlled. It is up to individual organizations to define these conditions, to be aware of and be in compliance with regulatory requirements.

Participation of those who are actually affected by work environment may be beneficial when defining the work environment.

This element needs emphasis in industries where work environment can have a high impact on quality of product and/or service (for example foundries and certain chemical manufacturers).  If work environment such as ambient temperature (as in case of calibration of equipment) can affect the quality of product / service then the same parameters (like temperature etc.) should be recorded in reports to enable traceability and verification.

You look at the conditions under which work is performed and ensure that this is appropriate for meeting the customers’ requirements. Review the work environment requirement regularly. The limitation of work environment requirement in ISO 9001 is that organization needs to maintain the work environment such that it does not affect product quality. It does not extend it to human resource safety or any other aspect. 

In 2008 edition, a note added after the clause to explain work environment that it relates to conditions under which work is performed including physical, environmental and other factors such as noise, temperature, humidity, humidity, lighting or weather. This simply explains the work environment conditions and does not add any new requirement.

Though house keeping is not mentioned directly in the standard, but remember house keeping directly affects product quality as well as meeting product requirements. During auditing many organizations argue that in their type of industry we can not do much. They normally sight examples from neighbouring industries or industry leaders where they might not have even visited. Here I am presenting some photographs from a Leading Car Factory, check yourself and then decide how much you can do.

External Document Reference: Documentation Kit

Methodology for Resource Maintenance

List of Machines

Preventive Maintenance Plan

Machine History Register (Breakdown and Preventive)