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2021.11.01
System certification – for the environment, profitability and the law
The Technical Committee for System Certification within Swetic is constantly working to spread knowledge about system certifications and ensure that accredited certification bodies make consistent assessments. But what is system certification and why is it important?
We start from the beginning: All operations are governed directly or indirectly by the demands and expectations of customers and other stakeholders. These can include requirements for compliance with laws and government decisions, but also owner directives, profitability requirements or expectations from society and interest groups on how operations are conducted.
To ensure that requirements and expectations are met, every business has processes and activities that, when used and executed correctly, lead to successful results. By systematizing these, the outcome is ensured, which is what we normally call a management system.
One of the management's tasks is to assign resources and continuously evaluate that processes and management systems function effectively so that customer and stakeholder requirements are met.
Having your business certified means that a third, independent party is allowed to review the business and thus provide input on how the business can be developed and improved. A system certification is then carried out. The certification contributes to increased profitability, regulatory compliance, reduced environmental impact and increased safety.
Accredited certification can be done in areas such as quality, environment, work environment, food, safety and IT. Quality ISO 9001, Environment ISO 14001, Work Environment ISO 45001, Food ISO 22000 and Information Security ISO 27001 are examples of some of these standards in which companies can be certified.
Food – an increasingly important certification category
Consumer awareness of safety, environment and quality has increased in recent years, not least regarding food. The purpose of food safety management systems is to be able to identify risks/hazards and take measures to minimize them. These can be hazards linked to human and animal health and which risk reaching the entire food chain, from farm to fork.
Certified production, processes and services can give the supplier the right to label their goods with standards such as EU organic, KRAV, IP Seal, MSC and ASC. All certification is carried out by impartial certification bodies, accredited by the authority Swedac. A majority of these are also members of Swetic and are part of the technical committee for system certification.
