30 November 2001, Geneva, Switzerland
Dr. Lawrence Eicher, pictured above, the Secretary-General of ISO (the International Organization for Standardization) has challenged ISO 9000 certification bodies - and the accreditation bodies that approve them as competent - to do a better job of weeding out malpractice and dishonest operators.
He says that ISO (which, of course, is responsible for creating the ISO 9000 "standards") regularly receives complaints about improper certificates.
According to Dr Eicher, the conformity assessment community is facing a serious challenge caused by a certain number of certification bodies which act without integrity.
In a direct message to that community, the Secretary-General says "[you] need to be concerned if [you] want to avoid being seen as charlatans ... you need to police yourselves".
Although The Business Improvement Network must distance itself from these allegations and their serious implications, we will welcome and support any move that strengthens the effectiveness of the certification process.
One glaring example of the weakness of the current process is the deplorable fact that many registered organisations have quality management systems that lack objectives. Not only does this mean that certificates have been issued that disregard a clear requirement, it means that the fundamental purpose of the system is fatally undermined. A system without objectives clearly cannot possibly deliver 'quality'.
Other disturbing shortcomings arise from the new requirements of ISO 9001:2000. We have seen, for example, cases where procedures are accepted by certification bodies in lieu of proper process descriptions!
Let's hope that ISO's intervention triggers an extensive bout of continual improvement.
We asked UKAS (the main accreditation body responsible for approving the competence of UK-based certification bodies) to comment. They gave us this response.
We also have the view of another UK-based accreditation body: the Accreditation Service for Certifying Bodies (Europe) - see here.
Frank Steer, Director General of the Institute of Quality Assurance (IQA) has also responded here.
Update 13 February 2002
Just in - a statement from the UK Deapartment of Trade & Industry (DTI). See link below.
The Association of British Certification Bodies has issued a statement in response to ISO's claims. In essence the ABCB's chief executive says that, although he does not consider that the accredited certification industry in the UK lacks integrity, the ABCB is pressing for the publication of statistics of sanctions imposed upon certification bodies to illustrate UKAS' effective policing. See link below.
The IAF (International Accreditation Forum) have admitted that commercial pressures could lead certification bodies "to act inappropriately". The BQF says an ISO 9000 certificate does not guarantee high standards and that "many organisations ... are driven to obtain certification ... to satisfy the bureaucratic requirement of an existing or potential customer". See links below.
Why are the certification bodies and IRCA keeping quiet about this? Given the fact that all the more senior players in the 'quality & excellence business' have felt moved to issue public statements about ISO's serious allegations, it's striking that all the certification bodies (and IRCA, who qualify the certification bodies' assessors) remain stubbornly silent.
Makes you wonder, doesn't it?.