SCI-QUAL INTERNATIONAL PTY LTD

GUIDELINES ON

SUPPLIER ASSESSMENT

  

INTRODUCTION

 These guidelines address the question of the amount of time that should be spent on supplier assessment with the objective of providing suppliers with a broad indication of the kind of time element they can expect assessments to take.

 SUPPLIER ASSESSMENT

 The adequate assessment of a supplier depends upon a number of factors including the competence of the assessment team, the effectiveness of the agreed corrective action program and the arrangements for continued compliance, including the re-assessment at agreed intervals.  Underlying this is the prime importance of the time actually spent on the pre-assessment, assessment and follow-up action - and the frequency of surveillance visits.  An assessment team may be adequately qualified, supported by procedures and a management body, but if insufficient time is spent the assessment is of limited value, and will fail to uncover significant system deficiencies, if they exist.

  

THE TIME ELEMENT

 Table 1 to 6 sets out typical assessment program times for suppliers being assessed for the first time for various programs.

 The actual time spent on either the initial assessment of a supplier or a subsequent surveillance visit is governed by a number of factors (See Table 1) which vary according to the size of the firm, the product being manufactured and the required quality system level, eg ISO 9001, ISO 14001, AS 4801, SQF, Food Safety or other programs.

 FREQUENCY OF SURVEILLANCE VISITS

The frequency of surveillance visits will be dependent to a large degree on the confidence a certification body has in the way a particular firm manages its program, but it is nevertheless considered that in general there should be a minimum of two surveillance visits per supplier each year and must be a minimum of one per year.

 

OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH AND SAFETY AUDIT DURATION

AS/NZS:4801:2001

(Extract From JAS-ANZ  Procedure 2. 14 Dec. 2001

Audit Duration

1.             This Annex provides guidance on the amount of time required by the certification body for assessing organizations of various sizes. It does this by indicating the number of auditor-days to be spent on-site by the certification body at each organization for stage 1 and 2 audits, annual surveillance and reassessment.

2.             It is clearly understood that some organizations of a particular size will need more time. In exceptional cases (such as existing ISO 9000 certification), audit time might be able to be reduced below the minimums in the table. For organizations being concurrently certified or already certified to ISO 9000 or ISO 14001 and having fully integrated management systems, then these audit durations may be reduced by a maximum of 25% where there is a fully integrated system being assessed by an integrated audit team with appropriate qualifications and training in each area of audit responsibility. (Annex 3 refers)

3.             In the table below, the auditor days shown as "on-site minimums" apply to an organization with a single site; are based on an 8 hour working day including 1 hour for lunch, and exclude all activities other than auditing. The times are to be regarded as true minimums: planning, preparation, travel time and reporting are not to be included. If reports are written on-site in conjunction with the audit, the time for this activity is not included in Table 2. Where two or more team members work together (eg. auditor plus technical expert), that time shall be counted as if a single auditor was involved.

4.             The audit duration for multi-site assessments shall be in accordance with Annex 2, Clause 4.3.

 

Table 1. Client Profile (Intended for a single site, but can include dependent sites)

Annex 2, Clause 4.3 addresses audit durations for multiple sites and the requirements for sampling.

1	Applicant/ site scope:	ANZSIC code:
(**)	Are there industry specific work methods contained in Codes of Practice	Yes / No  (circle one)
2	Number of ‘equivalent full time’ employees [EFT]	EFT                                              =
3	Minimum audit days [D value] taken from TABLE 2	D                                              =
4	CATEGORY (refer to notes where applicable)	Potential Add on factor	Sum to Max amount
5	Special factors applicable to the site		Max 100
6 (**)	The site is a ‘Major Hazard Facility’   OR	100
7 (**)	The site stores significant quantities of dangerous goods	40
8	Other factors applicable to the site		Max 30
9 (**)	The work activities include asbestos removal operations	25
10	The site also operates at temporary sites	20
11	The OHSMS is implemented in different ways across the site	20
12	Plant & equipment TYPICALLY used on site (refer to notes as applicable)		Max 25
13 (*)	Powered mobile plant is used on site	10
14 (*)	Site uses high risk plant	10
15 (*)	Other plant or mechanical hazards	10
16	Select the hazards TYPICALLY present on site (refer to notes as applicable)		Max 40
17 (*)	Hazardous manual handling	10
18	Airborne contaminants	5
19	Biological hazards, infectious materials and/or zoonosis	5
20 (*)	Handling, mixing, spraying, disposal or other use of hazardous substances	5
21	Asbestos processing (other than removal)	5
22	Lead-risk jobs	5
23 (*)	Use of ionising or non-ionising radiation	5
24	Excessive noise & vibration	5
25 (*)	Entry into confined spaces	3
26	Falls from heights	3
27	Threats of violence or occupational assault	3
28	Potential for animal or insect attack	2
29	Thermal environment (extremes of heat, cold, humidity, UV radiation)	2
30	TYPICAL personnel & work arrangements		Max 30
31	>50% of workforce do not speak the same language as audit team	10
32	>20% of workforce are casuals, part time or contract workers	5
33	>50% of workforce on shift work	5
34	>50% of workforce are field operatives or mobile workers	5
35	There is regularly scheduled week-end work	5
36	Some employees work in isolation from others	5
37	SUM TOTAL add-on factor [F value]	F =
38	ACTUAL AUDITOR DAYS REQUIRED = (D) + (F/100 x D).  A pro rata for the EFT count can be applied within the range identified in Table 2.  See examples.

 

Table 2. Audit Duration AS/NZS 4801:2001 OHS and SAFETYMAP ADVANCED LEVEL

No of employees (EFT)

1 to 10

11 to 50

51 to 250

251 to 1000