Welcome!
Greetings and welcome to the first edition of IRCA INform, our new e-magazine. Through this magazine we aim to keep you informed not just about auditing, certification and training, but also about a wide range of related topics and news that will interest you
This first edition of INform will coincide with the launch of our new website. As you will see when you visit the site, it's completely new, and includes a wide range of features that represent a major advance in our ability to communicate and interact with you, and service your auditing requirements. Some of the new online services include:
- fee payment
- view and amend register details
- locate an auditor
- find a training course
Global expansion
Our global customer base is continuing to grow and as a result of the demand for our services in Japan and China, the IRCA website will soon become multi-lingual. We will add further sites throughout next year, offering the same benefits to those of you who use English as a second language.
Another customer-focused development we have set up is the partnerships with organisations in Japan, Korea and Thailand.
These organisations will assist our auditors by acting as our local agents, translating documents, interpreting our certification requirements and generally acting for you as a local interface making IRCA much more accessible during your working day.
Evaluation and certification will continue at our headquarters in London, but you will have access to advisors who will be able to communicate with you using the local language.
All of this reflects the philosophy which is fundamental to IRCA. Our aim is to offer valuable services, to a wide range of people, at the most acceptable cost.
Currently auditors from 105 countries take advantage of our services and with this new range of improved benefits, we hope you will find your relationship with IRCA more rewarding.
The deadline
This is a time of change within the certification industry. Just under three years ago we saw the launch of ISO 9001:2000, a milestone development that made quality management certification more relevant and accessible to a wider audience.
The launch of IRCA INform coincides with another milestone, the end of the transition period, which is in December this year.
Those involved in accredited certification are looking very closely at the numbers of organisations transferring, and perhaps even more closely at the numbers who have not transferred yet.
Although many are predicting a catastrophe, we are more confident, after doing our own research and talking to a number of the major certification bodies. What is obvious is that there will be a retraction, but not nearly as large as the pessimists would have us believe. And we believe certification will be stronger for it.
Integration is the future
Change means opportunities for auditors. Although ISO 9000 remains the core certification activity, we have noticed a significant growth in EMS certification confirmed by the recent ISO survey, click here to access. OHSAS 18001, after a slow start, is now also growing strongly.
Certification generally, is growing as more organisations understand the benefits. We have added food safety (ISO 15161) and information security (BS7799) to our portfolio of auditor certification activities, and expect to add others as more standards are issued.
We have noticed an increase in those of you who now have more than one certification, and are able to offer your clients a portfolio of auditing competencies across a range of certification contexts.
We see this as a fast growing trend; supplying client organisations' desires to include a range of management system standards in their business, but minus the cost of multi-audits.
Open forum
Next year sees another change from our usual practice of convening our 'Open forum for IRCA approved training organisations' in London. Next May, we are convening it in Fukuoka, Japan, as part of a two-day conference promoting auditing and good audit practice.
The aim of our service and all the new initiatives described here, is to get closer to you the auditor, our customer. We value your feedback at any time, on any aspect of our service, so please e-mail me directly at sfeary@irca.org
Simon Feary, Director of IRCA
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