Oxebridge has filed a complaint with the ANSI National Accreditation Board (ANAB) alleging violations of ISO 17011 for its co-marketing of services alongside the QMS software vendor Ideagen.
December 2022 Webinar
In December 2022, ANAB’s Technical Products Developer, Melanie Ross, appeared on a webinar hosted by Ideagen on the subject of “Understanding ISO Training Requirements and Their Effect on Your Training Program.” The webinar’s video now appears on YouTube.
During the hourlong video, Ross repeatedly promotes Indeagen’s “QualTrax” product, in what appears to have been a largely scripted presentation. At least four times Ross discusses QualTrax as a specific software option users may want to consider when seeking conformity to ISO 9001. In one such comment. Ross said:
[A training matrix] is one way to fill that gap between job description and actual activities. This is also where a document management system such as QualTrax could be useful. Job descriptions can be linked to procedures and processes in QualTrax which can then be transformed into training plans.
In another part of the presentation, Ross said:
…document management systems such as QualTrax can be used to store paper records with scanned copies and electronic records such as workflow results or quizzes…
And
…this is another area in training where a document management system such as QualTrax could be leveraged to evaluate competence through the use of workflows quizzes.
And during the viewer Q & A session, Ross again promoted QualTrax:
… our phones can be scanners now is to scan that paper record so you have that electronic copy the other alternative is to implement a document management system like QualTrax.
During the presentation, Ideagen representative Katie Grimm revealed that ANAB uses QualTrax for its own management system. Grimm mentioned another Ideagen product, Q-Pulse, which Ross then referred to but said she did not have personal experience with it. She then resumed discussing QualTrax instead.
Ross then boasted of ANAB’s intent to continue partnering with Ideagen to promote QualTrax specifically, saying, “stay tuned to find out what other webinars we will be putting on and we are planning a couple more with Ideagen and QualTrax in 2023 as well.”
Additional Webinars with Ideagen
The relationship did not end in 2022.
ANAB later announced on its website it intended to perform more such webinars alongside Ideagen, and then recently launched its second such event. In May 2024, ANAB and Ideagen gave a new webinar, entitled. “Getting Audit-Ready with Effective Strategies for Managing Electronic Records.” During that event. ANAB’s Ross again promoted Ideagen products, specifically aiming them at users of ISO 9001 and ISO 17025. ANAB accredits certification bodies that issue ISO 9001 certificates and directly accredits companies pursuing ISO 17025 accreditation.
During that event, Ross promoted Ideagen specifically at least once more, saying:
Ideagen can be used for a lot of different types of records, like training records. Their workflows and training module are good for retaining personnel competence records.
In both events, only ANAB and Ideagen participated; no other companies were represented, and ANAB specifically praised Ideagen, without mentioning alternatives.
Meanwhile, Ideagen claims to hold multiple ISO certifications, including 9001 and 27001, but no evidence of this certificate could be found except for a single site in Malaysia holding two certificates accredited by UKAS. If Ideagen holds any certificates accredited by ANAB, it worsens the conflict of interest.
Conflicts of Interest
ANAB claims to conform to the accreditation body standard ISO 17011 and is allegedly audited periodically against that standard by the International Accreditation Forum (IAF) and its regional bodies, such as IAAC. That standard prohibits such co-marketing by accreditation bodies and consultancies, such as Ideagen:
4.4.13 The accreditation body’s activities shall not be presented as linked with consultancy or other services that pose an unacceptable risk to impartiality. Nothing shall be said or implied that would suggest that accreditation would be simpler, easier, faster or less expensive if any specified person(s) or consultancy were used.
The rule is crucial, and deemed one of ISO’s seven “principles of certification.” Ironically, these are mandated to certification bodies accredited by ANAB, but not to accreditation bodies such as ANAB themselves. They are assumed to be required of ABs anyway, though, since they are addressed in ISO 17011 requirements, even when not specifically listed as such.
The intent is to ensure that ABs such as ANAB perform accreditation duties with complete neutrality, and not show favorable treatment towards any particular company. By promoting QualTrax, ANAB suggests it will give a preference to companies using the Ideagen product over companies that may choose to use an alternative QMS software platform. This also suggests ANAB is engaged in consulting for its own accreditation clients; under ISO 17011, “consultancy” is defined as including “giving specific advice” on implementing a requirement.
Ross’ comments would appear to clearly violate this clause, as she repeatedly suggested the use of QualTrax would help make the implementation of a management system simpler and easier. In addition, the partnership between ANAB and Ideagen would appear to violate the rule against the accreditation body’s activities being “linked” with a consultancy.
On paper, ANAB appears to conform to ISO 17011. The organization’s official “Impartiality Policy,” published as ANAB publication PR 1017, claims, “ANAB shall not suggest that accreditation would be simpler, easier, faster, or less expensive if any specified person or consultancy was used.” The document appears to be just a copy-and-paste of ISO 17011, however, and does not offer material details on how ANAB enforces these rules.
Historically, the IAF has refused to enforce ISO 17011 on ANAB or process any complaints against the body. For years, ANAB and the IAF have engaged in what appears to be an open conflict of interest, with ANAB filing the IAF’s official tax forms with the US Internal Revenue Service and allowing the IAF to use ANAB’s office address for such filings. This makes it unlikely that the IAF would ever take any enforcement action against the body that it relies on for its accounting and tax preparation.
Nevertheless, the Oxebridge complaint was copied to the IAF and its regional bodies IAAC and APAC, as well as ANAB’s parent company, ANSI.
