Complaints and comments
Listening for quality
The process of managing complaints and comments is an essential tool for the effectiveness of the conformity assessment system and is a key factor in Accredia’s policy.
Complaints and/or comments can be forwarded to:
- Accredia
- Conformity assessment bodies accredited by Accredia
- Organizations and persons who have received a conformity assessment from a body accredited by Accredia. In this case Accredia does not take action directly, but supervises the management of the complaint/comment by the CAB that issued the conformity assessment, which is responsible for verifying the functioning of the management system of the complained/commented subject.
Complaint
Communicates the dissatisfaction of any type of user (consumer, accredited body or laboratory, Public Administration, company, etc.) related to the use of a provided service, or to the purchase of a product offered by an organization certified under accreditation and recognized under the EA, IAF and ILAC International Agreements.
Comment
It highlights behaviors that are not in line with the reference technical regulations (ISO 9001, ISO 14001, ISO 50001, etc.). It differs from the complaint because it does not necessarily imply dissatisfaction with the services or products purchased.
Accredia manages complaints and comments from the market – accredited CABs, public organizations, businesses and consumers – on the basis of the specific Complaints and Comments Management Procedure.
Please note that the distinction between complaint and comment is made by Accredia.
Submission
Accredia manages complaints and comments supported by objective evidence and relevant to the accredited activities. Personal data is protected. An initial response is provided within 30 working days.
The handling of complaints and comments by the Accreditation Body is subject to a series of conditions regarding the opening of the procedure, necessary for the effectiveness and transparency of the process.
- The complaint subject must relate to a behaviour (of Accredia or CABs) that actually refers to testing, calibration, inspection, verification or certification activities (of system, product, persons, etc.) that fall under accreditation.
- Complaints/comments submitted anonymously and/or without objective evidence to support them will not be accepted, in order to avoid giving rise to complaints for speculative purposes of disturbance of competition. However, if detailed and concerning specific facts that fall within the scope of accreditation, Accredia reserves the right to take them into consideration in the ordinary surveillance activities on accredited subjects.
- Truthfulness of the data entered will be checked before opening the complaint and comments handling procedure.
- The protection of personal data of all subjects using the complaints and comments service is guaranteed and, if requested by the subject, anonymity is ensured in the handling process (see “Processing of personal data – Information pursuant to the European Regulation on data protection n. 2016/679 – GDPR”).
- In case of comments referring to possible criminal offences committed by Accredia’s personnel, or violations of the Organizational Model or Ethics and Conduct Code of Accredia, the Supervisory Board of Accredia will also be informed.
- Accredia undertakes to provide an initial response to the complainant within 30 working days of receiving the complaint/comment.
For any assistance, contact Accredia at the email address info@accredia.it.
Complaints and comments must be made by completing the following contact form.
Contact form
* The required fields are marked with an asterisk
Processing of personal data
Information pursuant to the European Regulation on data protection n. 2016/679 – GDPR
Accredia informs you that, pursuant to art. 13 of the GDPR, the personal data provided by you, by completing the complaints/comments form, will be acquired by Accredia to activate the relevant level of access to the documents.
Personal data will be collected in a database and may be processed internally by Accredia, using manual and/or computerized tools, for the following purposes:
1) sending to you communications and information on the handling of the complaint you submitted
2) statistical processing (in anonymous form) necessary for Accredia’s internal reporting
Providing the requested personal data is optional, however failure to fill in the fields marked with an asterisk will make it impossible to process the data for the purposes of authorizing access to the reserved area.
The legal basis for the processing is the legitimate interest of the Data Processor.
The data will be stored for at least 10 years. You may at any time request the integration, rectification and possibly deletion of the data provided, pursuant to Articles 15 to 22 of the GDPR.
Your data will NOT be communicated to any operator, or to any third party, nor will they be disseminated, either in Italy or abroad, except for the needs strictly connected to the management of your request.
The Data Processor of your personal data is Accredia Registered Office Via G. Saliceto, 7/9 – 00161 Rome – ITALY.
The Data Protection Officer can be contacted at dpo@accredia.it.
At any time you may exercise the rights referred to in Articles 15 to 22 of the GDPR, towards the Data Processor, by sending an email to privacy@accredia.it.