Assessment, Auditing and Certification

Why auditing and certification?

Whichever sector your business operates in, you need the certainty that your services, products and processes have been scrutinized to ensure that they deliver optimum performance, quality and safety and adhere to sustainability measures.

With certification, you are communicating to consumers and stakeholders that you are operating within a proven framework to achieve customer satisfaction and meet regulatory requirements, health and safety obligations and more.

What are the key benefits of assessment, auditing and certification?

• Continually improve results through discovering and refining practices
• Improve processes and efficiencies
• Manage risks and demonstrate proof of due diligence and compliance
• Reduce costs and save time
• Identify greater opportunities for growth and market access
• Comply with regulations
• Gain a competitive advantage
• Enhance your credibility, and the trust and confidence of your customers
• Promote an even playing field for all organizations

All your compliance needs

We have been the world’s leading certification body for decades, offering a comprehensive range of services to help organizations comply with a host of international, national, regulatory and industry standards, as well as demonstrate best practices.

Our global network of expert auditors performs thousands of assessments each year, working confidently with large, international organizations. We provide everything you need to achieve best practices, continually improve and demonstrate that you are a reliable and trustworthy partner, whatever the area.

Accreditation – utmost competence and trust

Accreditation demonstrates a certification body’s technical competence, reliability and integrity.

As a leading accredited body with decades of experience, we operate with the utmost competence and trust, delivering the highest quality service at global and local levels. Our accreditation means that we can certify your people, processes and products with confidence.

Transparency, independence and integrity are key to delivering our services. We comply with the highest standards to maintain our accreditations, so you can be sure of our competence. We have teams of highly skilled, reliable and ethical assessors and technical experts, whose skills and abilities are continually assessed.

How does certification work and what is the process?

We can support you through the process:

1. Understand the standard – we can help you to understand the requirements
2. Get in touch – tell us what standard you are aiming for, and we will provide a detailed proposal and quote
3. Competence – identify any skill and competence gaps that your staff may have. We can provide training and workshops to support
4. Gap assessment – identify any weaknesses
5. Stage 1 – confirmation that implementation of the standard is on track
6. Stage 2 – confirmation that the standard is fully implemented
7. Certification – we will issue your certificate, outlining the scope, after which you can share your achievement with the world. Your stakeholders can check your certification via our client directory
8. Ongoing improvement – regular surveillance visits to help you maintain and enhance your management system

Popular standards, sectors and service categories

There are specific standards to support your needs and risk areas. We categorize standards into the following areas to highlight the positive impacts that certification can have on your organization.

Popular standards

• ISO 9001 – quality management
• ISO 14001 – environmental management
• ISO 13485 – medical devices quality management
• ISO 14064-1 – greenhouse gas verification
• ISO 22301 – business continuity management
• ISO/IEC 27001 – information security, cybersecurity and privacy protection
• ISO/IEC 27701 – privacy information management
• ISO 45001 – occupational health and safety
• ISO 50001 – energy management
• SA8000 – social certification

Sectors

• Agriculture and food
• (Bio)chemicals, rubber and plastics
• Construction
• Electrical and electronics
• Forestry and forest products
• IT
• Machinery and equipment
• Medical devices
• Oil, gas, minerals and metals
• Pharma and personal care
• Public sector services
• Tourism and hospitality
• Transportation, including automotive, aerospace and logistics

Service categories and business goals

• Business continuity
• Environment and energy
• Forestry and crop
• Healthcare and medical
• Information security
• Occupational health and safety
• Pharma, cosmetics and personal care
• Quality and consumer safety
• Regulatory compliance
• Security
• Supply chain
• Social and sustainability
• Transportation

Certification for a sustainable world

The UN has created 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as an urgent call for action. For each SDG, the ISO has identified the standards that make the most significant contributions.

Many of the standards contribute to more than one SDG. For example, ISO 26000 (social responsibility) contributes to 16 of the 17 goals.

Download our More Than Just Best Practice and Reassurance – How Our ISO Services Align with the UN SDGs information sheet for more details.