What should I do about my ISO audit during the Covid-19 outbreak?

Although maybe not top of the agenda, many of our clients and businesses across the UK who hold ISO certifications will be facing the question of what to do about their scheduled ISO audits during the lockdown period. We have been contacted by a number of our clients wondering how their certification will be affected.

For the time being – no need to panic

For those of you with recertification audits due, official UKAS rules allow for a maximum of a 6 month extension beyond the expiry date of your current certificate. If you have a surveillance audit due, this can be delayed until the audit is practicable to be undertaken. There are a number of other rules within the guidance offered however that might mean having a remote audit is the right solution.

Outlined here is the industry’s approach to managing the impacts of the Corona Virus and what this means for UK businesses who hold ISO certifications. Whichever certification body you are certified with within the UK, they will be under the jurisdiction of UKAS (the United Kingdom Accreditation Service), who are themselves governed by the IAF (International Accreditation Forum). Within rules set out by the UKAS and the IAF for managing ‘an event of extraordinary occurrence’, such as Covid-19, UKAS will officially allow:

• A maximum 6 months overrun for recertification audits
• Surveillance activities can be suspended where necessary however they must be completed as quickly as practicable once the emergency status is lifted and as soon as travel to restricted areas is possible and businesses are operational
• Wherever possible surveillance activities must take place within the current certification year and subsequent surveillance activities should continue in line with the original programme

So, for those of you with recertification audits due, you have a six month window from the expiry of your certificate to ensure the audit is undertaken before it will be suspended under current rules. Surveillance audits can be delayed where it is not possible to conduct the audit.

The guidance goes further however and encourages certification bodies to consider and implement other methods of auditing such as telephone interviews, teleconferencing, internet-based assessments and desktop reviews of submitted documentation.

This is currently playing out within the industry in the form of remote audits. 2SB anticipate that following the Covid-19 pandemic, while it will never be possible to undertake all auditing activities remotely, the frequency and use of remote auditing tools is likely to increase. We ourselves are measuring both the huge environmental and social benefits that increased remote working is having internally.

It is without doubt an uncertain time within the global and UK economy, however if your business is in a position where you can continue to roll with your current external audit programme by having remote audits we would encourage you do to so. Not only will this help keep the UK economy ticking over, but it will also avoid your business facing a backlog of external audits being due at time when the business is focusing on recovery. Any methodologies suggested to you by your certification body will have been submitted to UKAS for approval and so you can be confident that your certification will remain valid.

Over the past few weeks 2SB has successfully assisted a number of our clients through Stage 1, Stage 2, surveillance and re-certification audits all which have been conducted remotely. We have found certification bodies to be more than reasonable in their approach to what is new ground to us all. 

Here we have summarised the key points relevant to UK businesses, however if you would more information please access the official guidance below:

• IAF ID3: IAF Informative Document For Management of Extraordinary Events or Circumstances Affecting ABs, CABs and Certified Organizations (2011)
• UKAS TPS 62: Management of Extraordinary Events or Circumstances Affecting UKAS Accredited Certification Bodies and their Certified Organisations

TPS 62 is published by UKAS and is directly relevant to certification bodies. 

2SB will be closely monitoring any updates to this guidance as the situation develops. If you are currently in need of support in managing your audit requirements or would just like to discuss your options 2SB would be more than happy to hear from you.