Complaint #015: Misleading scope of certification
Details of Facility:
-Scuola Normale Superiore Divisione Servizi Direzione
-Planning and services for post-graduate education, etc.
-Pisa, Italy
-Certified: June 6, 2005
-Certification Body: Det Norske Veritas
| Details of Complaint: |
Element of SA8000 Standard: |
| Too narrow scope of certification |
Advisory 6 |
Actions Taken:
March 2006: SAI received, though its Italian representative,
notification of concern about the scope for Scuola Normale
Superiore’s June 2005 certification. The scope of the
SA8000 certificate only covered Divisione Servizi Direzione,
but the University of Pisa seemed to be entirely certified.
March 29, 2006: SAI received the certification body’s
evaluation, indicating that this division of the university
had administrative, managerial and financial autonomy. SAI
required further information on the autonomy of this division
to be certified as a separate entity and asked whether DNV
SA8000 management had approved of its limited scope.
March 30, 2006: DNV noted that the certificate issued clearly
mentions that only the management services department is SA8000
compliant and that any publicity or advertisement showing
otherwise needed be sent to DNV in order to begin an investigation.
The certification body concluded that a misrepresentation
of scope of certification needed to be dealt with, but certification
of this scope should be accepted, given the facts.
April 4, 2006: SAI reviewed the information from DNV and
decided that the issue should be presented to the accreditation
committee at its April 14 meeting to consider the definition
of scope. Unfortunately the Accreditation Committee was unable
to address this issue and it was tabled for discussion until
the October, 2006 meeting for further consideration.
September 26, 2006: The case of the certification of Scuola
Normale was presented to the Accreditation Committee for discussion
and decision. It was agreed that further investigation by
SAI was needed to determine the appropriateness of the scope
for this facility.
January 24, 2007: The Accreditation Committee reviewed the
results of SAI’s investigation as part of a DNV surveillance
audit. The Committee remanded the decision to the SAI accreditation
staff which decided the facts supported the certification.
January 24, 2007: SAI notified DNV that SAI has taken the
decision that the certification for this facility can stand.
January 29, 2007: SAI requested that its representative in
Italy conduct some additional research to confirm that indeed
the Scuola Normale was a separate entity with separate physical
structures and staff.
February 22, 2007: A report was received by SAI confirming
that the Scuola Normale is linked to but independent of the
University of Pisa. Firsthand observations of the University
confirmed this research.
The matter of the scope of this facility was settled and
closed as of February 2007.
In working on this case, SAI recognized that there are gray
areas regarding the matter of scope of SA8000 certification
and will continue looking into defining auditor rules for
scope with the aim of providing the CBs with more information
and guidance.
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