Coronavirus Covid-19 – and Impact on Audits and Certification of Clients

The situation of Coronovirus is a fact with an impact to our lives - both on a personal and professional level.

Prioritizing the safety and health of our clients and colleagues and actively contributing to the collective effort to reduce the spread and impact of the COVID-19 coronavirus, we have reviewed our processes and established an Business Continuity Plan to minimize the risk - while maintaining compliance with regulatory requirements.
ISONIKE's Business Continuity Plan takes into account and is in line with:

1. The regulatory framework to which accredited Certification Bodies must comply - as described in the Requirements for Certification Bodies for Management Systems Inspection and Certification (IEC/ISO 17021-1:2015).
2. The content of the IAF ID:3 2011 (informative document) which is a component of the broader regulatory framework provided by the International Accreditation Forum (IAF) - Management of Extraordinary Events or Circumstances Affecting Accreditation Bodies (Abs) , Conformance Assessment bodies (CABs) and Certified Organizations
3. The announcement from the International Accreditation Forum (IAF)

The Business Continuity Plan includes the Risk Assessment associated with each audit and the use of appropriate measures, tools and alternatives depending on the type of visit and the risk involved. It provides the alternative of Remote Audits (where required and where possible) using ICT (Information and Communication Technology) tools to enable the certification to remain active.
Rescheduling of scheduled visits is provided in exceptional cases only and where specific criteria are met (such as justifiable failure of the ability to carry out a remote audit, rescheduling to a date not exceeding 12 months from the previous visit, failure to travel to a country where restrictive measures apply such as closing borders or threatening the health of those involved etc.)
ISONIKE staff will stay in touch with our customers. At the same time, we kindly request our clients to contact us if there are any reasons and wish to arrange suitable alternatives to the planned audit visits. During the period prior to any scheduled visits, we kindly request customers to contact ISONIKE and inform us immediately of any potential issues, such as the temporary closure of sites, which may prevent the inspection from taking place.

This will be in force for as long as corresponding government restrictive measures apply. It will be reviewed at regular intervals for its effectiveness and application. It will automatically expire with the removal of the corresponding government measures.