What is the Purpose of Your Support Visit?

What's the difference between an annual audit and your support visit?

Your annual audit is mandatory, and at the time of the audit, we will assess whether you are compliant with your management standard. 

A support visit, however, is not certificate dependent.  Instead, we offer it as part of our service and it’s what makes us unique to other ISO providers.  This visit will give you any additional support you may need.  They are completely flexible and led by you, ensuring you feel confident in the day-to-day running of your management system and are getting the most from it. 

What can your support visit be used for? 

Simply put, you can use this visit for anything ISO related which would be of benefit to your business. This could be focusing on a specific clause, a business problem, or an awareness session for your team. It is your opportunity to make the most out of your Lead Assessor’s expertise. 

We know your first year running the systems can be the most daunting. This is why we work closely with you during implementation to create a roadmap for how best to use your support meeting. We aim to take any nervousness away and guide you on where to focus your energy. We make every roadmap bespoke to each client and can change the agenda for the support meeting at any point during the process.  

As your systems mature, you may not have a specific topic in mind for your support meeting, and in that case, the fallback position is to conduct an internal review. An internal review is where your Assessor carries out a mock audit.  Don’t panic, it’s neither a pass nor fail scenario!  Instead, it’s an opportunity to review your management system and resolve any issues ahead of your re-certification audit, all with the support of your Assessor. 

Here are some ideas of how you could use your support meeting:

Do I need to do anything?

Following your re-certification audit, your account manager will get in touch to book your support visit each year.  They will ask if you have a particular area you wish to focus on at your next visit and can suggest topics that may add value from reviewing your recommendations from your recent audit. 

Do I need a support visit?

Yes, it’s included within our service and is invaluable for you to get the most out of your management system.  We have found that this visit plays a vital role in embedding the ISO Systems within your business and ensuring the standards work for you without creating additional work.

What if we need additional support?

If you feel like you’re struggling with your management system and would benefit from additional visits, we can arrange this for you.  Please contact your account manager directly to discuss your requirements in more detail. 

We also offer training courses, either public or bespoke to your business at a discounted rate.  In addition, there are also our online training modules that can be completed at any time to suit you.  Don’t forget to make the most of the multi-bundle discounts.