IJCA - Volume 2 - Flipbook - Page 12
12
The International Journal of Conformity Assessment
activities are carried out devoid of bias, management
of conflict of interest (CoI), and objectivity of
accreditation activities. ABs are required to introduce
an effective and practical mechanism to gather
information on internal and external personnel
of the AB and their relationships with CABs and
involvements. Prevention of CoI situations are very
important in the accreditation process as it is a
higher risk component and will impact the credibility
of the accreditation process.
ABs are required to identify, analyze, evaluate, treat,
monitor, and document on an ongoing basis the
risks to impartiality arising from their activities and
relationships (clause 4.4.6 of ISO/IEC 17011). Note
1 under the same clause explains the sources of
risks as guidance for ABs to evaluate potential risks
to impartiality. Figure 01 shows main sources of
risks to impartiality and process of management
of impartiality risks. When ABs identify potential
threats/risks to impartiality, appropriate actions are
taken to eliminate or minimize the impact of such.
However, there may be residual risks that can be
acceptable to some extent, which can be reviewed
and monitored continuously by the management.
However, sometimes, there may be identifiable risks
that are unacceptable, as these are direct threats
to impartiality. Under such a situation, ABs do not
provide accreditation.
Risks Associated with Confidentiality
Self-declarations from internal and external
personnel at a defined frequency, obtaining consent
from CABs and assessment teams before each
assessment, collecting information on consultants
for management system development (also towards
assessing criteria such as conflict of interest),
internal auditing, training, etc. at the application
stage as part of an application are commonly used
methods by ABs to gather information to determine
potential CoI. Clause 6.2.2 of ISO/IEC 17011
requires ABs to have enforceable agreements with
their personnel to address aspects of impartiality
Figure 01: Possible risks to impartiality and approach the mitigation
