Management of the Malawi Bureau of Standards Management Systems Certification Division (MBS MSCD) understands the importance of impartiality in the process of certification and therefore commits to ensure that management systems certification activities are conducted in an impartial, objective and conflict of interest free manner.
The MBS shall identify, analyse, evaluate, resolve, monitor and document potential sources of influences that could impact on impartiality and create an environment for conflict of interest.
Prevention and resolution of threats to impartiality shall be carried out through:
- Not allowing the certification process to be influenced by commercial, financial or other pressures.
- Reviewing and resolving any residual risk to remain within an acceptable level of risk.
- Applying a risk assessment process for the identification of risks and threats to impartiality
- Not certifying another Certification Body’s quality management system
- Not offering or providing management system consultancy.
- Not conducting internal audits to certified clients.
- Not certifying for at least two years an organization when consultancy has been provided by a body which has a relationship with MBS.
- Not outsourcing audits to management system consultancy organizations.
- Not promoting MBS certification linked with organizations providing management system consultancy.
- Correcting inappropriate links or statements from organizations stating or implying that MBS certification will be simpler, faster or even less expensive if the consulting organization is to be used.
- Not using external auditing personnel who have provided management system consultancy to the proposed certification client.
- Requiring from certification personnel, internal or external, to report any situation that may lead to being a threat to impartiality.