Impartiality Policy

PTAB is committed to impartiality in carrying out management systems auditing and certification activities.

To this effect, PTAB shall not provide certification if its relationship with client organization poses an unacceptable risk to impartiality. PTAB shall take action to respond to any threats to its impartiality arising from the actions of other persons, bodies or organizations.

To ensure impartiality, PTAB shall not:

  • Certify another certification body for its management system certification activities.
  • Offer or provide management system consultancy.
  • Certify a management system on which a client has received management system consultancy or internal audits within the previous two years, where the relationship between the consultancy organization and PTAB poses an unacceptable threat to the impartiality of the certification body.
  • Conduct Internal audit of clients certified by PTAB
  • Be marketed or offered as linked with the activities of any other organization that provides management system consultancy
  • Outsource audits to management system consultancy organizations
  • Assign individuals including those in managerial capacity to audit or certification activities of those management system where they have provided management system consultancy within 2 years.
    • To support this PTAB auditors will provide a signed record of their relevant consultancy.

The following points further elaborate the impartiality policy of PTAB:

  • PTAB shall not state or imply that certification would be simpler, easier, faster or less expensive.
  • PTAB or its employees shall not interfere or participate in decision processes of management system issues.
  • PTAB & its employees shall not participate in preparation and procurement of manuals, guides, Formats and procedures.
  • PTAB shall not provide specific and detailed advice or training on design, implementation and maintenance of management systems subject to certification.
  • There shall be no pressure of any kind (Financial, Trade, Administrative, Competitive, Moral and other) over PTAB and the personnel regarding the execution of its obligations as a Certification Body.
  • When certain relations create unacceptable impartiality threat, then the certification shall not be conducted.
  • When potential impartiality threat arises PTAB eliminates it or decreases it. This process is also controlled by the impartiality committee by holding a meeting at regular intervals.
  • PTAB shall not allow any pressure from other certification bodies to influence the certification process in the organization. If another certification body declines to provide service for client and the client requests the same service form PTAB than PTAB shall investigate the reasons for declining, before performing any other certification activities for the respective client.
  • PTAB shall not allow pressure from clients and/or consultancy organisations.

Risk Management

PTAB conducts, and documents, analyses to identify potential conflicts of interests for each potential certification client. Where a risk to impartiality is identified then possible mitigation strategies are identified. As part of this process, members of the audit team will complete and sign declarations of any potential conflicts of interest, which may state that there is no conflict of interest, with each client with which they are involved.

PTAB top management will review each case to ensure that any residual risk is within the level of acceptable risk.

Marketing

PTAB shall not be marketed or offered as linked with the activities of an organization that provides management system consultancy. PTAB shall take action to correct inappropriate links or statements by any consultancy organization stating or implying that certification would be simpler, easier, faster or less expensive if the PTAB were used. PTAB shall not state or imply that certification would be simpler, easier, faster or less expensive if a specified consultancy organization were used.

Personnel

All PTAB personnel, either internal or external, or committees, who could influence the certification activities, shall act impartially and shall not allow commercial, financial or other pressures to compromise impartiality

PTAB shall require personnel, internal and external, to reveal any situation known to them that may present them or the certification body with a conflicts of interests. PTAB shall record and use this information as input to identifying threats to impartiality raised by the activities of such personnel or by the organizations that employ them, and shall not use such personnel, internal or external, unless they can demonstrate that there is no conflict of interest.