Additional COVID-19 measures as of October 29, 2020

In March 2020, NEN communicated additional exception measures on how to deal with delays and obstacles in audits due to COVID-19 measures. The COVID-19 situation is now taking longer than hoped for and it is good to clarify how NEN deals with this with regard to the validity of certificates and statements. The COVID-19 exception measures will remain in force for the time being until the social situation has changed and NEN communicates cancellation of the exception measures.

The complete description of measures has been translated from the policy of IAF. Additional measures, specific for SCL, are included in the document. To help interpret these measures, here are some examples when COVID-19 measures are obstructing completion of the audit:

• If a follow-up audit must now take place, but the on-site audit cannot take place, the completion of the follow-up audit may be postponed once for a period up to a maximum of 6 months. Please note: if this follow-up audit has already been postponed for 6 months, no additional postponement will be granted.
• If a follow-up audit has been postponed for 6 months, the next follow-up audit must take place within one year from that changed date.
• If a recertification audit takes place now (i.e. the 3 year cycle is coming to an end), the recertification must be completed within up to 12 months after the expiration date, but once the COVID-19 measures obstructing an on-site audit are lifted, the audit must be completed within 3 months of that removal (all this within 12 months).
• If the audit is not possible in both situations (follow-up or recertification audit), the certificate will be withdrawn or the scope will be adjusted (only state those aspects in the scope which have been fully audited). After this, an initial audit must take place if you want to adjust the scope.
• Remote audits are allowed during follow-up audits and recertification, but now alsoallowed for step increases and scope extensions. This only concerns the interviewing of “office functions” such as management, HR, calculation, etc. Remote audits are under no circumstances allowed during initial audits and site visits.
• With remote audits, the 2 auditors must be able to communicate with each other during the audit. If they cannot physically sit together in one room due to COVID-19 measures, a videocall is allowed as an alternative.

For a complete overview of measures, we refer to the amended policy document. This is available in Dutch, German, English and French. Do you have questions? Then contact us at info@safetycultureladder.com