New Accreditation Programme for Auditing Organisations

The Singapore Accreditation Council (SAC) has launched a new accreditation programme for auditing organisations (AOs) on 15 September 2017. Application of accreditation of auditing organisations is now open and can be done through the SAC accreditation portal, SACiNet.

To raise the quality of Workplace Safety and Health (WSH) audits in the WSH management system for the industry, the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) has collaborated with SAC to establish a new regulatory regime to be established for WSH auditing organisations (WSHAOs). Under the new regime, the WSHAOs have to be accredited by SAC to be registered with MOM for performing WSH audit services. The SAC accreditation programme for auditing organisations was developed with close collaboration with MOM and industry stakeholders. The accreditation criteria will be based on SAC CT 17 - Criteria for Accreditation of Auditing Organisations.

(Left) Mr Desmond Hill, Chairman of SAC's Council Committee for Management Systems & Product (CCMP) announced the launch of the new accreditation programme on 15 September 2017 at a briefing session for WSHAOs organised by the Ministry of Manpower (MOM).
(Right) Representatives from SAC and MOM were present to address queries from the WSHAOs about the new accreditation programme.

SAC CT 17 is adapted from ISO/IEC 17021-1: 2015 - Conformity assessment - Requirements for bodies providing audit and certification of management systems - Part 1: Requirements. It also defines the requirements for the conduct of audits by competent auditors to be performed professionally. The mandatory WSH management system audits stipulated by Workplace Safety and Health Act and its regulations are incorporated in Appendix 1 of SAC CT 17.

Accreditation provides formal recognition of the integrity and competence of auditing organisations. SAC-accredited auditing organisations will undergo vigorous assessments to ensure conformance to relevant standards and requirements. In today's competitive business environment, companies seek transparent and credible audit services. With this new SAC accreditation programme, customers will have greater confidence and trust in the quality of audits that auditing organisations provide. This is especially crucial as customers are becoming more selective and seek reassurance on the auditing services that they engaged can fulfill their expectations and conform to regulatory requirements.