The search for certification: www.emsaudit.com

Accessing emsaudit.com enables the user to find the full range of certification

bodies accredited with the industry scopes to undertake the audit required.

The database and software used to extract this information is unique, and makes

the process of identifying the industry-specific list of bodies almost instantaneous.

No charge

Once the shortlist of contenders has been finalised, a detailed questionnaire

is completed and several screens of information are accumulated. The data is

then saved and emsaudit.com ensures that the three or four short-listed certification

bodies are able to receive the information and submit a quotation for the three-year

duration of the certification cycle. The final selection of a certification

body can then be made.

The ease by which the process operates masks the huge amount of work that has

been undertaken to create the service. The design of the software and database

represents several months of development performed by a small team of programmers

and developers. Marsden International (UK) Ltd designed and managed the whole

project and an Oxford-based web design company worked to assemble the code.

Data gathering and inputting the scopes into the database is an ongoing requirement

for the service, and regular communications with the bodies is essential to

ensure that the information is kept up-to-date.

The service is quick and easy to use, has no advertising and currently has

no charge to the business user. A small commission is payable by the certification

body but only where they have been selected on the basis of information provided

in the quotation and other information obtained from the site.

The idea was the brainchild of John Marsden, an independent ISO14001 specialist,

who has spent more than ten years working as an EMS training provider and certification

auditor for a number of the world’s leading companies within the oil, chemical

and manufacturing sectors. He saw that the market for accredited certification

spanned the globe and of the huge number of 3rd party bodies (over 700), only

a few were well-known to the international business community, even within national

boundaries.

During the last five years accredited certification of management systems such

as ISO14001 and EMAS has become an industry in its own right. The prediction

is that the number of global certifications is set to rise rapidly over the

next decade as commercial organisations seek to demonstrate their green credentials.

Many UK bodies now offer ISO14001 certification to business communities around

the world as well as in the UK.

The website has secured several important domain names in order to establish

a presence and to provide a memorable address. Emsaudit.com provides an entry

point for those users interested in environmental certification. Similarly,

qmsaudit.com provides the equivalent for quality certification and other domains

relating to ISO19011 (the soon-to-be-launched EMS and QMS audit standard) have

been acquired to help direct traffic towards the site.

Ease the process

The AuditScan™ software and database has been created firstly to ease the

process of identifying and selecting a suitable certification body for the EMS

audit process, and secondly to maximise the quality of environmental certification

and associated management systems. The winners will be the business communities

around the world which use the service as well as those certification bodies

who are best able to provide customer satisfaction whilst demonstrating professionalism,

impartiality and value-for-money.