Global Wind Organisation CRITERIA FOR THE CERTIFICATION BODY December 2015 (Version 3) 1
Contents 1. Introduction... 5 2. Criteria for approval of a Certification Body... 5 3. Selection of audit team members certifying a Training Provider... 5 4. The certification process... 5 4.1 Introduction... 5 4.2 Request for certification... 5 4.3 Pre-audit... 6 4.4 Certification audit... 6 4.5 Certification maintenance... 7 4.6 Extension of the certification... 7 4.7 Multi-site offers... 8 4.8 Certification of new Training Providers... 8 5. Estimate for man-day allocation for certification process... 8 6. Requirements to inform GWO... 8 2
FOREWORD This document version 3 has been approved by Global Wind Organisation s (GWO) Steering Committee November 2015. The GWO is an association of Wind Turbine owners and manufacturers with the aim of supporting an injury free work environment in the wind industry. This document has been developed in cooperation between the members of GWO. The objective of the GWO is to develop common industry training and best practice standards on health and safety, as a vital and necessary way forward to reduce risks for personnel in the wind industry working on site and to reduce environmental risks across Europe and globally. This document describes the expectations and requirements for Certification Bodies performing audits against the GWO standards. Editorial and approval The final editorial and approval of this standard has been made by the GWO steering committee. 3
Change log Version Changes 3 Section 4.7: Additional requirements for audit of multisite and on-site certification. Approved by & Dates GWO SC 30.10.2015 Section 6: Additional requirement for Certification Bodies when informing GWO of certification 2 Section 3: Additional requirements to competence level of audit team members. GWO SC 24.7.2015 Section 4.5: Re-certification for multisite will allow spot check verification. Section 4.7: All audits must include on-site inspection of training equipment and a witnessed audit of training for all facilities certified. The multisite criteria of the accreditation rules to IAF no longer apply. Section 4.8: New section former section 4.7. Section 6: New section requirements for Certification Bodies to inform GWO of certificates issued and for record keeping. 1 First release GWO SC 12.02.2012 4
1. Introduction The purpose of this document is to describe the criteria for approving a Certification Body certifying Training Providers who offers GWO s Training Standards. 2. Criteria for approval of a Certification Body The Certification Body must be accredited to ISO 9000 and OHSAS 18000 and must follow the general rules for accreditation when offering the service of certifying Training Providers (ISO/IEC 17021:2006. Conformity assessment -- requirements for bodies providing audit and certification of management systems). 3. Selection of audit team members certifying a Training Provider The qualifications of team members shall follow the general rules for accreditation regarding auditor qualifications and sector codes. An ISO 9000 lead auditor can cover the audit of the QMS in the administration of a Training Provider. An OHSAS 18000 lead auditor can cover the audit of a training session on-site. The audit team must document lead auditor competence, knowledge of local rules and regulations, and their understanding of relevant Health and Safety priorities for the course given as well as understanding of training, assessment and competency assessment. At least two audit team members must have completed and/or witnessed a full GWO course equivalent to the Training Standard the audit is performed against. 4. The certification process 4.1 Introduction This section describes the whole 3-year certification process, from request of proposal to obtaining a certificate and continuing with recertification: 4.2 Request for certification The Training Provider supplies information about the size and scope (Training Modules) of their operations to the Certification Body. A certification offer is issued by then upon receipt of this information. 5
4.3 Pre-audit The pre-audit is an optional chargeable audit, which is designed to preview the Training Providers management system for areas of the specifications against which the Training Provider asks for certification. The Certification Body will issue a report to the Training Provider detailing the findings of this audit in due time including any appropriate actions. 4.4 Certification audit Stage 1 audit Stage 1 is a readiness review performed by the auditor to determine the preparedness of the Training Provider for stage 2. Stage 1 processes include: o understanding the requirements, o collecting information of the scope of the management o system, processes and location of the Training Provider, o reviewing the allocation of resources for stage 2; o planning for stage 2, o evaluating the internal audit systems. o Stage 1 can be repeated until it produces satisfactory result to proceed with Stage 2. Stage 2 audit The audit team will provide an audit programme to the Training Provider prior to the audit. During the on-site audit, the audit team will meet with the Training Provider s management and staff to discuss the details of the process and consider possible issues relating to the performance of the audit. The audit team will discuss any non-conformities, observations and opportunities for improvement if and when they are identified during the audit. Furthermore, a member of the audit team will follow a training session on-site to see if it applies to the Training Provider s own procedure and follow the guidance from GWO. After the audit, the audit team will prepare and present to the Training Provider s management a report of the audit, which will include the audit findings. Certificate When all corrective actions agreed have been completed, the Certification Body will issue a Certificate of Approval and Reports. The Certificate of Approval will detail the specification to which the Training Provider has been found to be in compliance with at the time of the audit and the scope of the management system. A separate certificate must be issued for each training facility certified and inspected. The certificate shall as a minimum contain the following: (1) Training Provider s name (name of company) 6
(2) Site of training facility (location and country). (3) Name of training facility management (during audit) (4) Applicable GWO Standard Training Module title(s) (5) Certification Body name and lead auditor(s) name(s), including signatures (6) Certification date and expiry date If the certification is for a mobile training facility, then it must be specified in which jurisdictions this facility is certified to operate in addition to the address of the owner of such facility. 4.5 Certification maintenance Surveillance The purpose of the surveillance visit is to record whether the Training Providers certification is found to be maintained. The process is identical to the stage 2 audit. It means that both the management system and a training session will be audited on a sample basis. The date of the first surveillance audit following initial certification shall not be more than 12 months from the last day of the stage 2 audit. Recertification Every three years the Certification Body will automatically review the Training Providers certification. If the surveillance audits and/or the recertification audit results are satisfactory, the Certification Body will re-issue the Training Providers certification and the Certificate of Approval. This needs to be completed before the expiry of the current Certificate of Approval to preserve the continuity of the certification. For recertification the Certification Body can decide to perform spot checks on different training locations if one Training Provider uses a multisite certification. 4.6 Extension of the certification If an already certified Training Provider wants to be approved for additional training modules this can be done in two ways: o a witnessed audit of the new Training Module (samples if more than one) on an extra ordinary visit, or o during the ordinary surveillance visit where extra time is allocated. 7
4.7 Multi-site offers All fixed location training centers shall be visited and audited to obtain the certificate. For mobile training sites and for training on-site, the training and associated training equipment shall be audited, this will include observation of the training delivered at an alternative location. It is the Training Provider who will offer training at the facility who must have obtained the certification. If different Training Providers will be using the same facility, each one must individually be certified to perform training in accordance with the requirements in the Criteria for Training Providers. 4.8 Certification of new Training Providers Training Providers that are new into this area can have a provisional certificate based on a partial stage 2 audit provided that - the full audit is completed during the first training session planned, and - all other applicable audits have been performed prior to this first training session. 5. Estimate for man-day allocation for certification process The table gives a guidance of estimated auditor time needed for the certification process including surveillance and recertification for a single site audit. Initial Audit is a combination of stage 1 and stage 2. Normally a 0,5-1,0 man-day is expected for stage 1. # Employees Initial Audit (md s) Yearly Surveillance (md s) Re-certification (md s) QMS On site Training QMS On site Training QMS On site Training 1 25 1,5 1 1 0,5 1 1 26 65 2,5 1 1 0,5 2 1 66 125 3,5 2 1,5 1 2,5 1 126 275 4,5 2 2 1 3 1 6. Requirements to inform GWO Certification Bodies shall inform the Global Wind Organisation (gwo@windpower.org) of new certificates issued and of any changes to the certification status of an audited Training Provider as soon as possible and no later than within 5 working days. This includes in particular - new certificates - extension of certificates - withdrawals and termination of certificates Alongside the certificate, the Certification Body must also inform GWO of the following in order to display the Training Provider on the GWO map of Training Providers: - Full name and address of Training Provider - Name of contact person at Training Provider 8
- E-mail of contact person at Training Provider - Phone number of contact at Training Provider - Training Provider s website For each of the mentioned cases, copies of all relevant certificates for all concerned sites must be forwarded. The Certification Body shall keep records of the audit team, and of the audit performed, for at least the validity period of the certification plus three months. If requested by Global Wind Organization, the Certification Body shall provide copies of these records. 9