Purpose
This procedure sets out the methods General Group Co. uses to keep its certification activities confidential and impartial — and who is bound by them.
Scope
It applies to every certification service we deliver and every person who takes part in one — our own staff, auditors, technical experts, committee members, and any engaged third party.
How we protect confidentiality
- All documents and records connected to a certification — reports, correspondence, e-mails, and electronic copies — are treated as confidential and held in a controlled archive.
- Everyone involved in an assessment signs a Confidentiality, Independence and Impartiality undertaking (GC-FR-008) before being given access to client information or assigned to a job.
- Committee members sign a dedicated confidentiality undertaking (GC-FR-009); any engaged third party signs a third-party undertaking (GC-FR-010) and may only act with management approval.
- Information is disclosed only where the law requires it — and, unless prohibited, you are told what will be released and to whom.
How we safeguard impartiality
- Top management issues a formal declaration of impartiality that all departments operate under.
- Any threat to impartiality — from relationships, finances, marketing, shared resources, or other services elsewhere in the group — is identified and entered in a List of Potential Conflicts of Interest (GC-LS-001).
- Each threat is analysed and a safeguard applied to eliminate it or reduce it to an acceptable level, under the oversight of an impartiality committee.