IECQ QC080000

(Electrical and Electronic Components and Products Hazardous Substance Process Management System Requirements, HSPM)

The European Directive RoHS (2002/95/EC) comes into force on July 1st, 2006 and aims to forbid (or limit) the presence of 6 substances that are hazardous for the environment (lead, mercury, cadmium, chrome VI, PBB and PBDE) in electrical and electronic product.

The entire electrical and electronic industry is therefore concerned and must prepare to justify, or demonstrate, the conformity of its products put on the market after the introduction of the Directive. The producer of a piece of equipment concerned by the application of the Directive must only put on the market products that are compliant, that is to say that do not contain prohibited substances. In order to be certain of the composition of the product, the manufacturer must manage his own production procedures, and also control his purchased materials. For that reason, he can ask his suppliers to provide conformity declarations. But the acceptance of a Conformity Declaration is above all a question of trust between supplier and client.

In order to create or to reinforce this relationship of trust, IECQ has created a mechanism for Process Certification, on the model of Quality System Certification, that completes the analysis of the materials if necessary, and reinforces the credibility of the Declaration of Conformity of the supplier. QC080000 is a supplement to and exists in concert with the ISO 9001-2000 Quality Management System (QMS) framework for the comprehensive, systematic, and transparent management and control of processes pursuant to HSF goals.

The standard requirements include:

• General Requirements
• Management Responsibility
• Planning
• Management Review
• Resource Management
• Product Realization
• Design and Development
• Purchasing
• Verification of Purchased Product
• Production and Service
• Identification and Traceability
• Handling of Hazardous Substances Parts
• Measurement, Analysis and Improvement

The steps to gain the certification:

• An organization with an existing Quality Management System can incorporate the elements of QC080000 into their existing system by using a stepwise approach. Most of the existing QMS already contain some of the elements of qc080000 and the transition can be made by building on the existing system. Any organization with existing QMS can use this procedure as a platform and build on the existing platform.
• The organization shall:
  • Identify and document all hazardous substances in use in the organization.
  • Identify the specific processes to be managed relevant to its HSF goals.
  • Implement actions to ensure continuous process improvement in achieving HSF.
  • Have a process established to restrict and/or eliminate the use of hazardous substances from products and processes.
  • Compose a list of all hazardous substances used within the organization.
  • Statements of HSF policy and objectives with inclusion of a timeline for elimination of use of all hazardous substances as appropriate.
  • Establish in the organization’s quality manual a section on the HSFprocess management plan and objectives and reference to HSF documented procedures.