Impartiality Policy & Risk Management

Impartiality statement of top management. The Bureau commits that accreditation activities are carried out objectively and that commercial, financial or other pressures do not compromise the outcome of any accreditation decision. Impartiality is a governing principle of the accreditation process and is protected by the structure, policies and procedures described here.

Risk management for impartiality

• Identification: all relationships of the Bureau, its personnel, assessors and committee members with the bodies it accredits (or with their competitors) are registered and reviewed at least annually.
• Analysis: each identified relationship or activity is analysed for the risk of undue commercial, financial or other pressure; the analysis considers ownership, consultancy links, family relationships, prior employment and repeated assignment patterns.
• Mitigation: segregation of duties between assessment and decision, rotation of lead assessors, recusal rules for committee members, and prohibition of consultancy (see Independence & Funding). Residual risks are reported to the Accreditation Decision Committee.
• Escalation: any person may report a perceived threat to impartiality through the Complaints & Appeals channel; reports are handled by a person independent of the case.