October 1, 2018
Due diligence is required when hiring an ISO consultant to ensure that (1) your internal audits are valid and (2) if the consultant is providing internal auditor training that they are certified to do so (Lead auditors certification is required). The Registrars are checking so don’t get caught off guard.
In the various quality standards ISO9001:2015; Automotive IATF16949:2016; Aerospace AS9100D; Environmental ISO 14001:2015; Health & Safety ISO 45001:2018 it states in section 8.4 “the organization shall determine the controls to be applied to externally provided processes, products and services…” In addition, in section 7.2 a) Competence “determine the necessary competence of person(s) doing work under its control that affects the performance and effectiveness of the quality management system.”
Registrar are verifying the credentials of your internal auditors and ISO consultants per clause 7.2 – Competence. If your internal auditors do not have the new standard training your internal audits will not be compliant and you will be issued a major non-conformance. In addition, if you have a third-party consultant that conducts your audits or provides training and they do not have their auditor credentials/Lead auditor for training then your audits/training will be deemed noncompliant.
This article is to educate the reader on what you need to do to ensure your internal auditors and an ISO consultant is competent based on the new standards. Before you hire an ISO, consultant check their credentials to ensure they are certified through a certified training provider – for example Exemplar Global. Examine their certificate to ensure it is for the current standard with a certificate number. You can also call the certification body to verify the certificate.
Do your due diligence when ever you are hiring an external service.