60-second interview: UKAS
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The United Kingdom Accreditation Service (UKAS) is the UK’s sole, government-recognized accreditation body. We speak to , marketing manager at UKAS, about current projects and the new European regulation for accreditation |
What is the UKAS awareness campaign?
The awareness campaign was launched in 2000 following a ministerial review, ordered by Lord Sainsbury, as a response to the problems of non-accredited certification. The Department for Trade and Industry decided the best way to combat non-accredited certification was to have some positive messages in the marketplace about accredited certification. To illustrate what we are doing - in the past 12 months, UKAS has contacted 20 government departments, given presentations to representatives from over 300 local authorities and public-sector organisations and distributed information to over one million small businesses.
Is trust in accreditation being challenged by non-accredited certification?
Accreditation is a formal measure of competence and accreditation by UKAS means that evaluators have been assessed against internationally recognised standards to demonstrate their technical competence, impartiality and performance capability. This ensures that the selection of a laboratory, certification or inspection body is an informed choice and not a gamble for procurers.
Accredited certification is definitely the prevalent force in the market and the awareness campaign has done a lot to promote this. Through independent research, carried out as part of our sponsorship from the UK Department of Innovation, Universities and Skills (DIUS), we can see that last year 71 per cent of large public organizations and 75 per cent of large private organizations now specify the use of UKAS-accredited certification from their suppliers.
Does UKAS find it hard to reach SMEs?
It’s very much a challenge because there are five million in the UK and we’re a small company ourselves. However, the DIUS sponsorship comes with the proviso that we raise awareness within small businesses, which we do through intermediaries, such as industry networks and member organisations, which in turn pass on the message of accredited certification to their members.
What is UKAS’ reply to criticism that says it is too strict?
UKAS accreditation is a rigorous process; it has to be for the trust it delivers. It’s a robust assessment of a business – it’s not a club and UKAS does have teeth. In the last 12 months there have been 17 suspensions and five terminations of accreditation.
People aren’t worried when a process is rigorous. For high-level instances, such as dealing with asbestos, there’s an outright need for it to be robust because things can go really wrong. Companies benefit from the fact it is rigorous, partly because when preparing for an audit inefficiencies and duplicate processes are removed, which in turn cuts down wasted man-days.
Is everything looking good for the future of accredited certification?
Yes for two reasons. First, the new legislation adopted by the European Commission, specifying that every country has a sole accreditation body, will come into force in 2010. There won’t be a huge change in the UK, as we already have one accreditation body with strong links to the government, but we will see more and more reliance on this framework throughout Europe.
The second reason is the results of the Hampton Review. This looked at bureaucracy and burden across business, such as when a new regulation came out this meant more red tape for small businesses. Out of this review came a code of practice for regulators, which recommends that if there are existing accreditation schemes then they should be used to manage risk.
Will the new European regulation help or hinder trade across Europe?
Accreditation only works if there is an international network – it provides the framework to remove technical barriers to trade. UKAS is a signatory to the International Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation (ILAC) and the International Accreditation Forum, which means that a certificate or test report issued in one country will be accepted in any of the countries that are signatories. Therefore, the regulation will encourage consistency across Europe and will make processes much more transparent and open.
Will the regulation mean that accreditation bodies will wield too much power?
No, because we’re peer assessed. UKAS has to comply with a standard, ISO 17011, which is assessed by a team from overseas accreditation bodies. We are also audited every few years by DIUS to make sure we’re acting in the public interest.
Can you see any problems that may arise from the new regulation?
No.
Do you see this move as being good for accreditation around the world?
I can’t comment on that; whether this approach is implemented in the rest of the world is to be seen. However, the accreditation system is growing internationally. In the past five years, the number of national accreditation bodies has grown by 40 per cent and the number of accredited organisations has also grown by over 30 per cent. ILAC members are present in over 80 economies – all this means that technical barriers to trade are being removed.
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