2nd notice to customers re: coronavirus outbreak

TUV USA is tracking closely the updates related to the COVID-19 outbreak and taking appropriate actions, prioritizing the safety of our office personnel, audit team, personnel working for organizations certified by TUV USA and the members of society in general. The actions also aim to minimize the impact on our activities and ensure that the required audits are performed so the certifications of our customers are maintained.

We have been discussing with the accreditation bodies and regulatory authorities in the past days and we are happy to communicate that the remote assessments have been accepted for most of the certification schemes under the condition that a Risk Analysis is performed addressing the requirements of the IAF document ID 3:2011 Informative Document for Management of Extraordinary Events or Circumstances Affecting ABs, CABs and Certified Organizations and other standard’s specific requirements.

Read more by downloading the document.

Actions for customers affected by the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic

What is TUV USA’s process for managing the clients that are affected by the coronavirus (COVID-19) Outbreak?

• A Notice has been sent to customers on how TUV USA is managing the affected organizations.
• TUV USA will operate according to the procedure GOP 030 Management of Crisis.
• A Specific Crisis Management Plan is established for the COVID-19 Outbreak.
• The Plan contains a Risk Analysis of the customer’s certification
• Actions will be determined based on the result of the Risk Analysis

I am an auditor, what if customers communicate that their sites are affected and the audit cannot take place?

• Please, inform the respective project manager
• Please, understand that the virus outbreak is an exceptional situation and the audit might be cancelled for the dates that were previously agreed with the customer and you might need to re-schedule the audit according to the accreditation rules and notifications from scheme owners.

I am an auditor, what if I start presenting symptoms related to the corona virus or concerns were identified in the area where the company I am scheduled to audit is located? 

• You won’t be required to travel
• Please, communicated the related Project Manager

What are Project Managers expected to do when communicated by clients and/or auditors that the scheduled audit cannot take place?

The project Managers shall contact the customers and request:

• A copy of their policy or an official statement regarding visitors on their facilities (e.g. auditors)
• The policy shall contain a date when the clients will start allowing visitors to their sites
• Request the clients to complete the Questionnaire GOP100F022
• Send the required information obtained by the customers to the Quality Manager

What happens to the information provided by the organization? 

• Will be used as input to the Risk Analysis and determination of actions

What are the possible courses of action? 

• Where the risk to maintain certification is considered high, a course of action will be determined case by case.
• Where the risk is determined to be low, it will depend on the standard. We may have the assessments completed remotely were it is allowed.

What do I do for auditing scenarios not covered by this Notice 

• Please, contact the Quality and Accreditation Manager Ricardo De Souza

I am an auditor what is required to complete a desktop audit? 

• Where a remote assessment is allowed, please refer to the specific procedures applicable for each certification scheme.

What happens if the remote audit result for a recertification audit is not satisfactory?

• The client’s certification must be suspended.