Registration Services - Steps to Registration

The registration process for each client company is unique. The following 'Steps to Registration' outline a typical approach to registration.

Registration Process

Stage I - Documentation and Readiness Review

AQSR will conduct a Stage I assessment to verify that your documented management system(s) address the relevant requirements of the standard(s) that your organization is pursuing and that your system is implemented and is ready for the Stage II Registration Assessment. Typically the Stage I Assessment is conducted on-site, however in some instances this function may be conducted off-site. Please contact your local AQSR representative to find out if your organization may qualify for an off-site Stage I Assessment.

On the EMS/OHSAS/RC14001 side, the auditors will be assessing:

• That your system (however documented) addresses all the requirements of the standard(s)
• The information provided in the questionnaire
• How you identify and evaluate your environmental aspects/risks and impacts/hazards and how they link to objectives and targets.
• That you have completed, (or plan to complete) a full cycle of EMS/OHSAS/RCMS internal audits and management review.

On the QMS side, the auditors will be assessing:

• That your system (however documented) addresses all the relevant requirements of ISO 9001:2000
• Your targets and objectives
• That you have completed, (or plan to complete) a full cycle of QMS internal audits and management review.

Supplementary for ISO/TS 16949:2002

• That your system (however documented) addresses all the relevant requirements of ISO/TS 16949:2002
• Internal audit and management review planning and results from the previous twelve months.
• List of qualified internal auditors
• List of customer specific requirements and customer metrics
• Customer complaint status
• Operational performance trends for the previous twelve months, minimum

Pre-Assessment

At AQSR, pre-assessments are an optional service. Their purpose is to sample the implementation of the management system where no “recommendation for registration” is made at the end of the day. They are informal, however they have the same feel as a typical Stage II Registration Assessment. We suggest that you select elements to be audited at a pre-assessment based on your experience with your management system and internal audit results. You may also request the auditor’s input on what elements to audit based on his or her past experience. For ISO/TS 16949, we suggest the Pre-Assessment take place prior to the Stage I Assessment.

Stage II - Registration Assessment

The principal purpose of the Registration Assessment is to assess the customer's Management System to the applicable standard and to ensure the policies and procedures are effectively implemented.

In order to achieve an effective Registration Assessment, you must:

• Provide the audit team with sufficient objective evidence for them ultimately to conclude that your management system has been fully documented and effectively implemented in accordance with the applicable standard.
• Provide the audit team with the appropriate records, so that your audit team may review records within the system as they provide vital evidence of the effectiveness of the program. In particular, records of customer complaints, including changes in procedures and work instructions resulting from corrective actions, should be readily available.
• Allow the audit team access to facilities, personnel and records so that they can verify that the Customer's Management System has been established and is being maintained,
• Cooperate fully in the resolution of any non-conformances.

Before the scheduled Audit Dates, AQSR will provide the Customer with a copy of the intended Audit Plan, together with any supplementary requirements deemed necessary to achieve the required accredited registration. Registration shall be granted only after successful closure and acceptance of the non-conformities observed, if any.

Surveillance

AQSR conducts Surveillance Audits on both a semi-annual and annual basis. For those clients seeking semi-annual surveillance, AQSR will review approximately 25%(as a minimum) of your system at each visit. For those choosing the annual option, AQSR will review approximately 50%(as a minimum) of your system at each visit. As a minimum, AQSR must review:

• Customer complaints and organization's response
• Customer internal audit review, planning and results
• Management review results and actions
• Progress made towards continual improvement targets.

AQSR will notify you no less than 30 days in advance of the proposed Surveillance Visit. The Surveillance Visit will take broadly the same structure as the Registration Audit, but on a smaller scale.

Special Surveillance Audits

Should circumstances dictate the necessity, AQSR will conduct a Special Surveillance Audit in the course of maintaining the registration. Circumstances may include the customer wishing to extend the Scope of Registration, a significant change in the Customer's Management System or Organizational Structure, after a merger or acquisition, as required in response to a sanction by your customer, or the issuance of a major non-conformance.

Corrective Action(s) arising from Assessment or Audit Visit(s)

Corrective Action Requests (CARs) arise when there is a lapse in the implementation of your system. During a Registration Assessment or Surveillance Visit, your AQSR audit team may issue a Corrective Action Request. You are required to close these corrective actions (both minor and major). A minor nonconformity is a failure to comply with a requirement of the standard which based on judgment and experience is not likely to result in the failure of the management system or reduce its ability to assure controlled processes or products. Major corrective actions are defined as the absence of or total breakdown of a system to meet a requirement of the standard. A number of minor nonconformities against one requirement can represent a total breakdown of the system and thus be considered a major nonconformity.

Corrective actions should be closed in the following time frames:

Registration

Accreditation requirements state that the entire system must be assessed at a minimum of once every three years. Each surveillance audit will re-examine part of the system and a re-assessment will be conducted at the beginning of each three year cycle based on current published requirements of the applicable standard. AQSR will issue a new Certificate of Registration upon successfully conducting a re-assessment visit at the end of your registration cycle. AQSR reserves the right to conduct a re-assessment of your system of a length greater than the standards minimum requirements if (in the opinion of your Lead Auditor) your system has been maintained in a marginal state of implementation.

Customer Assistance

As part of the registration process you can assist us in the following ways:

• Provide a guide for each of our auditors during on site activity.
• Have your Management Representative available during all phases of the Registration Assessment.
• Provide a room or work area for the audit team to use during on site activity with a telephone.