What is considered Non-conformity in ISO22301?

What is Non-conformity?

A non-conformity is any failure to meet a requirement. A requirement can be that of a customer's, statutory or regulatory body.

When a non-conformity occurs, you must react to it by either controlling and correcting it or dealing with the consequences.

ISO22301 BCMS Standard

ISO 22301 is titled, “Societal Security — Business continuity Management Systems — Requirements.”  Its purpose is to create a “management system” that will ensure your business continuity planning efforts meet business objectives which, in turn, will meet the objectives of a company’s executive management. 

It is very high-level and designed to be applicable to a company of any size and type.  And, ISO 22301 is very much designed to get the attention of executive management by communicating in terms of their objectives and the way in which they measure organizational performance.

PDCA Cycle

The standard is based on the Plan/Do/Check/Act model with “Plan” being what you do to ensure that your program has elements that align with your company’s objectives. 

“Do” is about ensuring that your program has implemented controls to accomplish the objectives within “Plan.” 

“Check” is about continuously monitoring the program to ensure that it is meeting the objectives, and identifying opportunities for process improvement. 

“Act” is about continuously improving the program to ensure that its scope is appropriate to the company and that the business objectives are being met.