The torch is apparently a metaphor for what they do to their principles.
This will be news to exactly no one, but ANAB’s quasi-response to the official complaint filed against Smithers has resulted in no changes whatsoever.
If you recall, ANAB partnered with registrar Smithers, consultant John Allin and the American Snow Contractors Association (ASCA) to invent the “SN9001” certification scheme, from thin air. The four of them worked together to create the standards, of which the SN9001 was almost entirely plagiarized from a previous ANAB standard on body armor, BA 9000. Then, ANAB created an accreditation scheme, and awarded (guess) Smithers the only such accreditation in the world.
Smithers and Allin then began conducting joint marketing events, with Allin providing consulting under his organization Snowfighters Institute, and Smithers providing the certification, all under ANAB’s warm, motherly gaze.
The problem is that ANAB is supposed to enforce ISO 17021 on Smithers, and ISO 17021 prohibits Smithers from colluding with any single consultant. The fear is that a conflict of interest would give Smithers pause in citing any John Allin client with a nonconformity, because they have invested so much time and money in inventing SN9001 together. Ditto for ANAB, who can’t ever de-accredit Smithers no matter what they do, lest ANAB risk a massive class action lawsuit from all those SN9001 candidates (all eleven of them) who suddenly wouldn’t have a registrar to turn to.
The entire thing stinks, and ANAB is utterly unapologetic. Their first response to our complaint was to immediately throw back a personal email, accusing me of having an “agenda” against SN9001, and ignoring the entirety of the 5-page complaint, and the ten allegations, each of which was supported by evidence. ANAB Vice President Randy Dougherty openly admitted to having a favorable predisposition toward his Smithers colleague Jeanette Preston, and had some pretty derogatory things to say about me, proving he was utterly conflicted himself. This means ANAB violated its own requirements under ISO 17011, which it alleges to comply.
After I called him out on it, Dougherty begrudgingly re-opened the complaint and handed it over to fellow ANABian Robert Cruse, who alleged to have done an investigation, although admitted he had dropped the ball for a while due to “a number of other high priority issues.” Whatever.
The final ruling by Cruse didn’t actually cite Smithers against any specific requirements of ISO 17021, despite the overwhelming evidence. Citing confidentiality, Cruse provided no evidence, nor any details on what, exactly, he looked at. In what appears to be an attempt to throw us all a bone, Cruse nevertheless said the complaint was “partially valid”:
A review of evidence provided to support allegations cited in this complaint and other available public resources (e.g. websites), ANAB has determined that this complaint is partially valid and corrective measures have been levied upon SQA management for action.
So, while there was no nonconformity written, there was a corrective action opened, and given to SQA management “for action.” I don’t know what that means either, but it’s certainly unlike any audit finding your organization would ever get from Smithers.
So now, what has happened in the past six months? If you read the headline, you already know. Not only is the ANAB corrective action against Smithers still open, it has never been updated, or acted upon, since Cruse updated it in October!
(Alternatively, you can track the progress of the complaint here.)
This is problematic for ANAB because in his reponse, Cruse wrote:
ANAB concluded the complaint was partially valid and we are requiring action to be taken by SQA. This action will be completed in the next 3 months and once ANAB has confirmed the action has been effectively implemented the complaint will be then closed by ANAB.
We could assume that it’s a bureaucratic hose-up, and that Smithers intends to help ANAB close the complaint any day now, except for one small fact. Smithers and John Allin have telegraphed their intention to stay the course by scheduling all new events for April and June of 2015. From John Allin’s Snowfighters Institute website:
That means that they have no intention whatsoever on taking the corrective action seriously, and have pushed the clock ahead another six months, into June 2015. I would say that Smithers is giving a big, fat middle finger to ANAB, except that ANAB probably sent them a formal request for the big, fat middle finger first. Hey, some folks are into that sort of thing.
Let’s recap: after Smithers dismissed the complaint, it was escalated to ANAB, who dismissed it as well, while displaying their predisposition towards Smithers (who pays them.) ANAB then re-opened the complaint, forgot about it, then rushed a finding that didn’t cite Smithers for anything, but resulted in a vaguely worded, wishy-washy corrective action. Smithers ignored the CAR entirely, and has failed to update it since it was filed, and continues to engage in the very same marketing with John Allin that prompted the complaint in the first place.
Normally we would escalate this to the next level, and file a formal complaint against ANAB, but that would have to go to the International Accreditation Forum, and that’s run by (wait for it)… ANAB’s Randy Dougherty.
What does it all mean? Well, no one really ever thought ANAB would saddle up and do it’s internationally-obligated job here. No one really thought ANAB would risk the flow of money coming from Smithers, nor that ANAB’s owner, ANSI, would take appropriate action; after all, ANSI is getting paid every time someone buys the snow and ice standards. No one ever thought Smithers would do the right thing, because… well, because Jeanette Preston. ‘Nuff said.
But this does become yet another irrefutable chunk of evidence in the near-mountainous pile of examples of conflicts of interest run amok, collusion, and hypocritical nonsense spewing from the cesspool of CBs and their Accreditation Bodies. ANSI will have to answer for this, eventually, and they will be put on the spot as to why they allowed this to go on for so long.
Meanwhile, the US government isn’t happy, and whether ANAB knows it or not, they are in a very, very hot seat right now. The reputation of ISO 9001 is on the line, and we may see an action in the next year or two that will blow the industry open as never before. They will be forced to step up, or be dismantled utterly. ANAB will be alienated utterly from the international community, who will run from them like plague rats fleeing a measles-infected Disneyland. The IAF may be restructured, or torn down, too. Anything with ANAB’s fingerprints on it will be treated like ebola ward bedpans. Many people will take early retirement, just to avoid losing their jobs by force.
And it won’t be coming from me. It will be coming from people with a lot more authority, and far less patience, than I have. All those guys whining about my “agenda” will look back lovingly at the days when an idiot with a blog filed quaint complaints against their registrars.
In fact, Oxebridge is working on a fix, as we speak. And ironically this may put money in ANAB’s pockets and breathe new life into the entire accreditation scheme, while finally wiping out those unaccredited certificate mills. But it’s probably not enough to repair the entire thing, and it may just be too late.
So, Smithers, ANAB, John Allin, ASCA … enjoy your eleven or so SN9001 clients now, because:
Christopher Paris is the founder and VP Operations of Oxebridge. He has over 30 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 a pulp novella called DR. CUBA.
