Company
Values
Certifer Belgorail intends to become a benchmark Certification Body in the field of Railways and other Guided Transport Systems (metro, tramways, …) capable of covering all regulatory provisions stemming from European Directives and other legal requirements on Rail Interoperability and Safety.
This result can only be achieved by always factoring in our key objectives in terms of quality which are:
- Ensure rigour and impartiality in our methods;
- Avoid any conflict of interests;
- Guarantee confidentiality on information provided to us in the framework of our assessments
- Ensure that certificates issued by Certifer Belgorail are recognised internationally, in particular through compliance with the normative documents and standards applicable to our activities as an Inspection and Certification Body
In this context, and in order to develop and retain a sufficient volume of activities to sustain our business, the company also envisages progressively extending its activities in countries voluntarily applying the provisions of European legislation on transport, such as non-European members of the Intergovernmental Organisation for International Carriage by Rail (OTIF).
Independence and impartiality Policy
Independence, impartiality and objectivity are essential and obvious requirements for a certification body. However, we go one step further by committing to a systematic approach and to the application of specific rules in order to guarantee the respect at all time of those conditions.
The trust that we inspire in our customers and stakeholders is the key to our success as an organization and as individuals. As reference organisation in our industry, we hold ourselves to the highest standard of professional behavior. The present policy is an expression of the values that are shared throughout our organization, our businesses and our clients and stakeholders.
In order to maintain its integrity as an independent third party, Certifer Belgorail is committed to:
- not to carry out missions as:
- designer, manufacturer, installer, distributor, responsible for the maintenance of the certified / inspected product;
- designer, user, operator, responsible for the maintenance of the certified / inspected process;
- designer, user, supplier, after-sales service representative of the certified service;
- not to propose or provide consulting activities;
- not offer or provide management or internal audit advice to clients when the certification program requires the evaluation of the client's management system;
- to be attentive for and have an open ear to, any comment of possible threat of intimidation that could take place between the client and Certifer Belgorail or its staff.
In order to reach these objectives, some principles and rules have been established.
- We actively consider the requirements enforced by the applicable accreditation rules, legislations and regulations;
- All our internal and external assessors sign a document in which they commit themselves to remaining impartial and objective;
- For each project, our internal and external assessors (inspectors or auditors) sign a project specific impartiality charter;
- Our collaborators (including senior management and evaluation staff) have no financial interest in the conclusions of reports and certificates issued during operations.
- An Advisory Committee, comprising representatives from our clients, end users, authorities or stakeholder in the railway sector guarantees our objectivity and impartiality at all times.
- The role of the audit team and certification committee in the certification process differs. It is the certification committee that decides whether or not to award the certificate. The certification decision is invariably taken by someone who is not a member of the audit team.
- We additionally analyse incompatibilities to avoid conflicts of interest internal or external collaborators participating to the assessment or decision processes.
- In order to prevent risks that could affect its impartiality, Certifer Belgorail has drawn up a document relating to risk management. This document is brought to the attention of the Advisory Committee and aims to:
- identify risks that could affect the impartiality of Belgorail,
- to extend this analyse to the risks that could affect the successful implementation of Certifer Belgorail activities;
- to extend this identification to the risks related to any pressure, incentive, in particular of a financial nature, likely to influence the judgments or the results of conformity assessment activities;
- to suggest, where appropriate, solutions to manage identified risks.
Belgorail's Quality Management System manages the conditions and rules to implement and guarantee the impartiality and objectivity of Certifer Belgorail and its collaborators.