This appeared on one of the satirical work-related
Facebook pages that I follow… but it illustrates something I’ve been banging on
about for years. Back in the day the old CPA standards were for most people
unobtainable for most of the time.
Everyone knew this, and everyone accepted this.
Back in the day when I was in charge our lab passed
with only three (very) minor findings, but it was the result of a lot of
hard work to reach a standard for one day which was frankly beyond anyone’s
ability to maintain for more than a day. We would put on a show, breathe a sigh
of relief when the inspectors went home, and put our feet up for the next four
years. After four years we would get plenty of notice of our next inspection,
and would again move heaven and Earth to be ready on the day.
The late Duke of Edinburgh unknowingly summed up the
old CPA standards when he once remarked that everywhere he went smelled of
paint. And the current ISO standards are in much the same vein.
As a lad our Boys Brigade entered a team into the fire
brigade’s fire safety quiz competition. There we learned about industrial and
commercial fire safety standards which were manageable and obtainable… but the fire brigade would turn up unannounced
to check that all was in order.
Surely we would be far better off with such a system. Manageable
and achievable objectives which are inspected without prior notice.
