IJCA - Volume 2 - Flipbook - Page 42
42 The International Journal of Conformity Assessment
that get immediately implemented like a mitigation
plan. Instead, they are held in reserve should the
need arise to implement them in response to a crisis.
A good contingency plan consists of a correction
(immediate action), corrective action (planned,
phased action), root cause analysis (to understand
why and how the crisis happened), and mitigation
options for the future (to prevent recurrence or
reduce the impact or likelihood of recurrence).
Examples of Risks Relevant to
Accreditation Bodies and Conformity
Assessment Bodies
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Risk 1: Lack of staff to support ongoing growth, current operations, vacation time, back-up personnel, and
increased staff competence needs
Mitigation Plan
Contingency Plan
Cross-training of staff
Hire existing contractors as full-time staff
Hire more contract staff
Utilize contracted assessors
Contingency plans for absences
Involve retired staff knowledgeable in the respective processes
Designated back-ups for each position
Cross train existing employees
Hire more full-time technical staff (consider temp to hire) Hire more contract employees
Hire another full-time administrative staff person
(consider temp to hire)
Hire temporary employees
Clear demarcations for staff responsibilities, and
reorganizing organizational structure
Bring additional management and technical personnel to help on
contingency
Risk 2: Health risks (i.e., COVID-19)
Mitigation Plan
Contingency Plan
Ask assessors and all traveling people to have travel
insurance, especially when traveling to high-risk (related
to health) countries
Remote assessment to be administered
Provide instructions to staff/assessors
Stop all travel
Maintain work-at-home options
Senior management team will be immediately activated to ensure safety
with company policies, like all planned contingencies
No onsite assessment to be planned until COVID-19
subsides
Introduce a crisis management team
Have back-ups/deputies for key positions
Encourage staff to work on OneDrive rather than personal
computer, to ensure access to important data
