Validated Assessment Program (VAP) is the social audit program of a Responsible Business Alliance (RBA). This alliance is made up of leading global brands that have agreed on a common Code of conduct and social audit process to ensure social responsibility in their supply chains.
Today, it is a global alliance of more than 150 companies with a combined annual revenue of $ 5 trillion. Not only are these companies obliged to comply with the Code of conduct, but they also keep their first-level suppliers up to the same standard. The RBA has developed an audit protocol to ensure compliance with the Code of Conduct.
DQS is one of the few audit firms that is allowed to evaluate compliance with the Code of conduct. As an approved VAP audit firm, DQS will be pleased to have you in the supply chain social responsibility audit. With the help of a global network of offices and auditors, the DQS Group is pleased to assist you worldwide.

See additional material here.

Starting in 2019 DQS Holding, based on the competence of DQS GmbH in this field, has begun to promote GDP (Good Distribution Practice) – EU Guidelines for Good Distribution Practice of medicinal products for human use (2013/C343/01) globally.

DQS Holding offered training sessions and defined the international process of work audits in this field. Currently, 14 auditors from eight countries are properly qualified.

The first outcome of GDPR competence development has occurred in Africa. DQS South Africa has awarded its customer the first GDP World Flight Services certification for their sites at Johannesburg and Cape Town.

A press release published by WFS: WFS Press Release 22-10-19

Management systems have a reputation of being too paper based on the need to document information. Many organizations therefore choose a software solution to convert paper stacks into digital data. However, digital data is subject to information security and legislation of information security.
After a careful study of this situation actually reveals:
– ISO 9001 has never required paper documents to create, maintain, and improve management systems;
– Software solutions can only support management systems if the business processes themselves support digitization. Otherwise, the problems will only be transferred to another medium, which can make the situation worse as digitization creates its own problems.
– The protection and security of information and personal data has always been problematic for stakeholders such as customers, partners and employees.
So how can an organization benefit from digitalization and still meet all the relevant requirements of the standard? A deeper look at ISO 9001 shows that this standard has a lot to do. Not only is ISO 9001 compatible with the advancement of digitization, it can be easily used to facilitate and support digital development.

Andreas Altena and Angelika Müller

Original article: Customer journal no.86- III/2019 p. 6

Food safety culture is the new buzzword in the industry; starting with BRCGS Food Version 8 coming up in February 2020, we expect to see more demand for the “shared values, beliefs and norms that affect mindset and behaviour toward food safety in, across and throughout an organization”, as the Global Food Safety Initiative*s (GFSI) technical working group defines it. To help organizations identify and develop their own food safety culture, GFSI has published a position paper regarding food safety culture that deals with three main topics:

Welcome to the latest edition of DQS Compact, DQS Group’s digital customer magazine. This issue features expert articles and contributions by our global customers on a variety of revised and new standards and related subjects, such as ISO 45001, ISO 50001, GDPR, ISO 22000, and ISO 55001.

Since the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) came into effect in May this year, companies all over the globe have been updating their data privacy policies and looking for confirmation of compliance. Read here about its significance and some of the questions and answers we can provide on this subject. Moving forward into certification territory, there are news here on the incipient transition of ISO 45001 and what this new ISO standard, based on BS OH 18001, will mean for workers and organizations alike. ISO 22000 for Food Safety is also undergoing revision, as well as ISO 50001 for Energy Management. Last, but certainly not least, we are particularly proud to showcase some of our first customers to the new ISO 45001 from around the globe. Read here what E.ON from Germany, CCAB AGRO from Brazil, and MACE from the United Arab Emirates have to say about their transition experience with our local DQS office.

We hope you will enjoy reading our magazine

DQS Compact Editorial Staff

Опубліковано перший міжнародний стандарт в сфері охорони праці та безпекиAfter many years of discussions on the standard for occupational safety and health management systems, an international standard on this topic was published. The final version of the new ISO 45001 standard was submitted on March 12, 2018.
A completely new standard ISO 45001: 2018, which replaced OHSAS 18001: 2007 was prepared by the ISO / PC283 committee and became the first standard in the history of standardization to be recognized internationally for OSH management systems. The new ISO 45001 standard has a high-level structure. The application SL is similar to other new or recently reissued ISO standards for management systems.

Standard ISO 45001: 2018 is the key for any organization in the field of occupational safety and safety in the workplace. It is a tool for maintaining staff health and improving the level of safety in organizations. Much attention is paid to the opinion of internal and external stakeholders, which is an important part of the risk-based approach to OSH management.
The requirements for migration from OHSAS 18001 to ISO 45001: 2018 were established in the mandatory document IAF MD 21: 2018. In accordance with this document, a three-year transitional period was established, which starts from the date of publication of ISO 45001.

This year’s first issue of DQS Group’s customer journal DQS Compact is just in time to announce the schedu

led publication date of the new ISO 45001, which is going to replace BS OHSAS 18001 within the next three years, after having been under development for the last five! Read here about the contents, background and changes coming up for all those looking to implement an occupational health and safety management system in accordance with this brand-new international standard.

ISO 19011, the standard for certification bodies, is also under revision – always good to know what is happening in this field. Other articles include a look at ISO 50003, an update on IFS 6.1 – and who knew there was a standard for plastic surgeons, and DQS can offer it? We are proud to showcase two of our excellent customers, from the US and Serbia.

If you like to stay up-to-date on standard developments and DQS inside news, simply suscribe to our news channel by clicking here.

The FDIS ballot achieved 62 votes of approval, 4 votes of disapproval and 9 abstentions, si is now approved for publication as an International Standard.

ISO/FDIS 45001 has met the requirements of the ISO/IEC Directives, Part 1, clause 2.7.3 for approval, so can now be taken forward for publication.

We estimate that the publication process will take 2 to 3 weeks to complete (we cannot be more precise, as some factors are outside of ISO’s control e.g. designation of the ISBN number).

by Pärsch Matthias  in DQS Products & Standards

Published in 2011, ISO 50001 is a proven framework, helping industrial facilities, commercial facilities, or entire organizations to manage energy – including all aspects of energy use.

Like all International Standards, ISO 50001 has come under periodic review to ensure that it continues to meet the rapidly changing needs of the energy sector. This work is being carried out by the ISO technical committee responsible for energy management and energy savings (ISO/TC 301). The most important change for the 2018 version is the incorporation of the high-level structure, which provides for improved compatibility with other management system standards. The growth of ISO 50001 is expected to accelerate as an increasing number of companies integrate ISO 50001 into their corporate sustainability strategies and supplier requirements.

The Draft International Standard ISO/DIS 50001 was approved in November 2017, and the new version of ISO 50001 is expected to be published at the end of 2018. You can find out more about ISO 50001 on ISO.org.

By Li Rayanna in DQS Products & Standards 

This year’s annual meeting of DQS group’s managing directors from 47 countries emphasized the importance of the most critical success factor for any service providing organization: people. For an international certification body, that means people in the global offices, both junior managers and young office staff, as well as auditors. How to be an attractive employer for such a wide variety of people and their different expectations?

To provide some insights on this topic the group invited a well-known expert from the ranks of their own customers: Prof. Dr. Gunther Olesch is chief human resources officer at Phoenix Contact GmbH & Co KG, as well as lecturer at the Ostwestfalen-Lippe University, among other things. Under his leadership, Phoenix Contact has been listed among “International TOP employers” for the last 16 years running by the “Great Place to Work® initiative. In his presentation, Prof. Olesch shared leadership principles and attitudes for international collaborations, based on respect and acceptance of different values. He predicts that the future will see a competition for good employees, helped along by social media, and shows how to be prepared for this by knowing and meeting the needs of your employees and meeting them. However, good employee relations need to be embedded in an overall company culture, which allows for competence development and personal growth.

Of course the two-day meeting, which was held at the Lindner Congress hotel in Hoechst, a suburb of Frankfurt, also addressed a variety of topics specific to certification business, from its history to its future, and how to apply project management principles to change processes in order to develop business further. Participants discussed how to build awareness and understanding for management’s responsibility for business development, to apply the concept to a current development project or development target, and to build self-confidence in their own ability to manage change and development.

Next year’s meeting will be held in Berlin for the first time, where the DQS shareholder DIN (German Institute for Standardization) has their head office.

This, the latest issue of the DQS Group’s DQS Compact newsletter, includes a special feature on TAPA and quality management in the logistics sector, as well as an expert article on Energy Management, some very time-critical news on SMETA 6.0 and the success story of our customer Engineering Plastics in South Africa.

If you are worried about valuable cargo disappearing during storage or shipment, the TAPA Security Standards FSR (Facility Security Requirements) and TSR (Trucking Security Requirements) can help you sleep better. In addition, the Qualified Carrier (QC) standard provides freight carriers with an option to prove to their customers that they fulfil the legal, economic and social requirements of their business.

Since certifications according to ISO 50001 will soon be based on ISO 50003, this issue includes an overview of relevant changes as well as a look at the various standards that make up the 50001 family of energy management standards.

Updates on ISO 37001, FSSC 22000 and the upcoming revision of SMETA 6.0 round off this issue, followed by a customer profile that shows how an SME from South Africa overcomes the challenges of today’s climate of limited economic growth in their country by employing ISO 9001:2008 as the guideline for the PDCA (Plan, Do, Check, Act) cycle, and to ensure customer value added in the processing, manufacturing and delivery activity.

With an estimated 230,000 audited sites, SMETA may well be the most widely used ethical audit format in the world. In order to reflect the ongoing evolution of ethical auditing techniques, Sedex has updated the format and aims to publish SMETA 6.0 in early April 2017. It will then be immediately available for use. After May 31st, 2017, SMETA 5.0 will no longer be available. We recommend to transition to the new version as soon as possible, in order to ensure that the audit results will be fully recognized by all users in the future.

What is SMETA 6.0?

Like its predecessor, SMETA 6.0 is an audit format that describes good practice in ethical auditing. As one of the most commonly used ethical audit methodologies in the world, SMETA plays an important role in the effort to ensure responsible sourcing and transparency in supply chains. SMETA audits focus on labor standards, health & safety in the workplace, and optionally also on environmental aspects and ethical business practices.

Because the SMETA methodology is recognized by an ever increasing number of companies and the audit results can be shared in the Sedex Advance Database, the unified methodology reduces audit duplication and lightens the burden for suppliers.

What’s new in SMETA 6.0?

Although SMETA 6.0 provides a number of improvements, it preserves the structure and underlying principles of its predecessors. There are few new requirements and suppliers that are already in conformity with SMETA 5.0 should not have significant problems with the update. This is hardly a surprise, given the fact that SMETA is based upon the ETI Base Code, which has not seen major changes in the last couple of years.

Still, the new version introduces a number of improvements and changes:

• Sedex has created a Supplement for Private Employment agencies, to assess the working conditions of workers who are supplied by private employment agencies to work temporarily at user enterprise sites.

• Section 0.A on Human Rights: A new section has been dedicated to the management of human rights. The section focuses on assessing the extent to which businesses and their respective sites understand and manage their human rights impacts. Information will be gathered as observations rather than non-compliances, as specific non-compliances are captured in the other relevant sections of the audit report. The section does not only concern the human rights of workers at the site, but also those of local communities and other stakeholders. SMETA 6.0 is not a full Human Rights Assessment, but instead a check on the site’s implementation of processes to meet their human rights responsibilities.
• Each section now contains measurement criteria for good examples, which gives greater visibility to good practices that go beyond the requirements of the code or the law.

• Section 8 – Regular Employment contains a new set of measurement criteria related to recruitment practices. The purpose of these new criteria is to provide greater transparency on the situation of agency workers and contracted workers.

• The Pillar ‘Business Ethics’ has been overhauled. Whereas in version 5.0 all potential for improvement in this area was reported as observations rather than non-compliances, from version 6.0 onwards it is possible to note non-compliances for business ethics. The section focuses on compliance with the applicable laws and regulations as well as the prevention of fraud, bribery and corruption.

Where can I find the relevant documents?

SMETA guidance consists of 2 parts, with one part describing the audit methodology (called “Best Practice Guidance” – BPG) and the second part details Measurement Criteria. Both documents will be available on the Sedex website for free and without registration as soon as they have been published. Also available for download are a template for the SMETA audit report and a template for the corrective action plan.

Does DQS provide ethical audits according to SMETA 6.0?

Yes, we do. DQS is a member of the Sedex Associate Auditor Group. All of our ethical auditors have received extensive training on the SMETA methodology. We have auditors all over the globe and use local auditors whenever possible. Visit the website of www.dqs-cfs.com or contact our local offices to learn more!

Article by Dr. Thijs Willaert, CSR & Responsible Sourcing, DQS CFS GmbH

For many expediters and logistics service providers, quality is the decisive selling point. Their customers expect reliable and damage-free handling of goods, which is why many logistics companies have a certified quality management. The latest revision of ISO 9001, released in 2015, now requires organizations to systematically consider risks and opportunities related to their business activities – the so-called risk-based approach.