How Does Accreditation Work and How Can it Benefit You By: Marisol Valenzuela Executive Director International Accreditation Registry (IAR) Miami, Florida

Specific Benefits How can Accreditation Benefit Individuals ?  Quality and consistency of training services  The international recognition of training certificates  The international recognition of the certifications issued by personnel certification bodies

Specific Benefits How can Accreditation Benefit Countries ?  Governments can more appropriately assess the value of imports to determine tariffs  More confidence in the exports because of increase in demonstrated quality  Improvements in quality and personnel competence leads to higher productivity

How to Provide Confidence ISO, IEC, CASCO, ETC. Auditor Registration Competence auditor ISO/TC 176 ISO 9001:2000 National Body IAF, IATCA Recognition Accreditation Body Certification Organization Customer

What is ISO 9000 and Certification all about?  CONFIDENCE  Providing CONFIDENCE to the customer that requirements for the product will be met

What is IAR?  Inaugurated in 1993 as the Caribbean Council for Accreditation  Transitioned to International Accreditation Registry in 2001  Mission expanded to provide ISO 9000 and ISO accreditation services for certification bodies  Focus on Latin America and emerging economies

We accredit certification bodies to issue certificates of conformity to: ISO 9000 ISO HACCP OHSAS ISO 9001:2000 Phased Transition Program

Other IAR Services We accredit training course providers ISO 9000 ISO HACCP OHSAS And other Technical areas in the industry

IAR’s Mission To help organizations within both emerging and established economies become more competitive by ensuring the adequacy of products, services and personnel, as well as the general effectiveness of management.

Accreditation of Course Providers

Customer Focus  Organizations depend on their customers and therefore should understand current and future customer needs, should meet customer requirements and strive to exceed customer expectations

Leadership  Leaders establish unity of purpose and direction of the organization. They should created and maintain the internal environment in which people can become fully involved in achieving the organization’s objectives

Involvement of people  People at all levels are the essence of an organization and their full involvement enable their abilities to be used for the organization’s benefit

Process approach  A desired result is achieved more efficiently when activities and related resources are managed as a process.

System approach to management  Identifying, understanding and managing interrelated processes as a system contributes to the organization’s effectiveness and efficiency in achieving its objectives. 

Continual improvements  Continual improvement of the organization’s overall performance should be a permanent objective of the organization

Factual approach to decision making  Effective decisions are based on the analysis of data and information

Mutually beneficial supplier relationships  An organization and its suppliers are interdependent and a mutually beneficial relationship enhances the ability of both to created value.

These eight quality management principles form the basis for the quality management system standards within the ISO 9000 family.

Auditor Competence

General Confidence and reliance in the audit process depends on the competence of those conducting the audit.

How can we measure competence?  Personal attributes  Ability to apply the knowledge and skills

Personal Attributes  ethical (fair, truthful, honest, discreet)  open-minded (willing to consider alternative ideas or points of view)  diplomatic (tactful in dealing with people)  observant (actively aware of physical surroundings and activities)  perceptive (instinctively aware of and able to understand situations)  versatile (adjust readily to different situations)  tenacious (persistent, focused on achieving objectives)  decisive (reaches timely conclusions based on logical reasoning and analysis)  self-reliant (acts and functions independently while interacting effectively with others)

Knowledge and Skills Auditors should have knowledge and skills in the following areas:  Audit principles, procedure and techniques  Management system and reference documents  Organizational situations – Organization size, structure, functions and relationships – General business processes and related terminology – Cultural and social customs of the auditee  Applicable laws, regulations and other requirements

Generic knowledge and skills of audit team leaders Audit team leaders should be able to:  Plan the audit and make effective use of resources during the audit.  Communicate with the client  Provide guidance to auditors in training  Lead the audit team to reach audit conclusions  Prevent and resolve conflict  Prepare and complete an audit

Specific Knowledge and Skills  Quality management system auditors  Environmental management system auditors – Terminology – Management principles/applications – Management tools

Examples of qualifications for auditors conducting certification or similar audits ParameterAuditorAuditor in both disciplines Audit team leader EducationSecondarySame as for auditor Total work experience 5 yearsSame as for auditor Work experience in quality or environmental management field At least 2 years of the total 5 years 2 years in the second discipline Same as for auditor Auditor training40 hours of audit training 24 hours of training in the second discipline Same as for auditor Audit experienceFour complete audits for a total of 20 days of audit experience as an auditor in training under direction of an auditor competent as an audit team leader. Audits completed within three years Three completed audits for a total of at least 15 days of audit experience in the second discipline under the direction of an auditor competent as an audit team leader in the second discipline. Audits completed last two years Three complete audits for a total of at least 15 days of audit experience acting in the role of an audit team leader under the direction of an auditor competent as an audit team leader. Audits completed within the last two years

Maintenance and improvement of competence  Continual professional development  Maintenance of auditing ability

Auditor evaluation  The evaluation of auditors and audit team should be planned, implemented and recorded.

What happens when an auditor is not competent?  Customer looses time and money  Credibility is jeopardized

Why is competence important to the client?  …because competent auditors that go through the process will ADD VALUE to the customer by helping them improve their processes and cut costs.

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Thank you for your attention You can make a difference!!!