Guaranteed independence & impartiality

Impartiality and Independence Policy Statement

We value our independence and impartiality. We do not provide age check systems or age verification services, we test that these systems and services work. Our impartiality is guaranteed through our Impartiality Panel and through our governance framework. We have strict confidentiality requirements, set out in our terms and conditions and as part of our accreditation requirements for certification bodies.

We have put in place policies and procedures to manage impartiality and to ensure that the certification activities are undertaken impartially:

• Certification will not be restricted to applicants on the grounds of undue financial or other limiting conditions.
• Applications and procedures have been designed so as not to unfairly impede or inhibit access by applicants, candidates or clients.
• All our employees, contractors or committees will act impartially.

Access to our services is available to all applicants whose activities fall within scope of the scheme. No application is to be conditional upon the size of the client or membership of any association or group, nor is certification conditional upon the number of certifications already issued.

We are not marketed or offered as linked with the activities of any organisation that provides consultancy, nor do we state or imply that the use of any particular consultancy organisation would make certification simpler, easier, faster or less expensive.

We may implement, maintain or operate a product, process or service where this is necessary for the purpose of evaluation of the product, process or service.

Employees:

Our Employees will not be certified themselves under this Scheme. Our management, review and certification officers are not involved in the activities of any legal entity that offers or produces the certified product, process or service or in the development or implementation of a product under testing studio testing. In addition, personnel of a client or applicant are not involved in our management, reviews, or the certification decisions.

We are not:

1. the designer, manufacturer, installer, distributor or maintainer of the certified product.
2. the designer, implementer, operator or maintainer of the certified process.
3. the designer, implementer, provider or maintainer of the certified service.
4. offering or providing consultancy services to our clients.
5. offering or providing management system consultancy or internal auditing to our clients.

Our Certification Officers nor any of our employees involved in the review or decision making process have worked for or provided consultancy to any Scheme Client for a period of at least two years prior to their activity for us.

We confine our requirements, evaluation, review, decision and monitoring to those matters specifically related to the scope of certification.

Impartiality Panel

ACCS has established an Impartiality Panel to provide independent review and oversight of quality management, product, process and services certification activities and testing studio. Our Impartiality Panel consists of the Chief Executive of the Scheme and at least two independent members. The role of this Panel is to review our certification activities and verify that they are performed impartially without undue influences that might affect the impartiality of services offered.

The main responsibilities of the Impartiality Panel are:

1. To assist with the development of policies relating to the impartiality of our certification services and testing studio,
2. To periodically review the impartiality of our certification and testing processes,
3. To advise on matters affecting confidence in certification and testing, including openness and public perception,
4. To prevent commercial or other considerations from affecting the objective provision of certification services and studio testing, and
5. To ensure that the actions of the panel itself do not present any risks to impartiality.

Impartiality Risk Register

We do not allow commercial, financial or other pressures to compromise impartiality. In order to analyse, document and eliminate or minimise the potential for conflict of interest arising from its certification activities, ACCS has developed an Impartiality Risk Register in line with the principles of ISO/IEC 17065, 17025 & 17021. The Impartiality Risk Register is an ongoing working document, used to continually assess threats to impartiality which is subject to review and audit by the Impartiality Panel. It is used in conjunction with other documentation, such as Interview Assessment Records, CVs, Contracts, etc.

This Policy is publicly available on our website without request: Guaranteed independence & impartiality | Age Check Certification Scheme