In this long-form video, I examine whether the refusal by the IAF to uphold accreditation rules within the ISO certification scheme reaches the level of either civil or criminal violations of law. TLDR: it does.
The video is long, so if you don’t want to watch the entire thing, use the timestamps in the description to jump to the sections you are interested in.
Routinely, the IAF and its member accreditation bodies, such as ANAB, UKAS, JASANZ, and others, have stopped enforcing rules governing conflicts of interest. Instead, certification bodies and accreditation bodies are now free to provide consulting and then certify/accredit their own consulting clients. The IAF was formed to police this scheme, but has abandoned that role and instead has converted the scheme into a pay-to-play “protection racket.”
In the video, I break down what the conflicts of interest are, why they present an imminent risk to public safety and human health, go over past violations that resulted in actual deaths and scandal, and then review why this violates civil and criminal laws. I end with what can be done to correct this.
The hope is that this video will sit and, over time, attract the attention of those who might be in a position to do something about this: legislators, regulators, law enforcement, and journalists. (FOR JOURNALISTS: You might want to jump to the 26:25 timestamp.)
NOTE: I am not a lawyer and this is not legal advice.
Christopher Paris is the founder and VP Operations of Oxebridge. He has over 35 years’ experience implementing ISO 9001 and AS9100 systems, and helps establish certification and accreditation bodies with the ISO 17000 series. He is a vocal advocate for the development and use of standards from the point of view of actual users. He is the writer and artist of THE AUDITOR comic strip, and is currently writing the DR. CUBA pulp novel series. Visit www.drcuba.world
