ASI’s commitment to member success: Support tools and platforms for your certification journey
ASI’s tools and platforms give members access to expert knowledge, can help to streamline the self-assessment process and support enhanced conformance during audits.
12 June 2023
ASI’s tools and platforms give members access to expert knowledge, can help to streamline the self-assessment process and support enhanced conformance during audits.
So, what support is available from ASI?
- ASI Standards Guidance – is the first point of clarification for any implementation questions. It sets out the intent of each criterion, with additional background information to enable understanding. It also includes key implementation elements like whether the criterion requires you to have a written policy or whether you need to consult with affected communities or publicly disclose information to meet conformance requirements. The Guidance offers further reading and points to consider, which are geared towards enabling effective implementation and conformance with the criteria.
- elementAL – is ASI’s custom-built online assurance platform where members enter evidence of conformance to the Standards’ criteria to complete their self-assessment. The beauty of elementAL is that it facilitates the members’ completion of a self-assessment as thoroughly as the auditor would conduct the audit, meaning that any identified gaps can be addressed with corrective actions and even closed before the audit. When questions arise along the way, members can consult an extensive set of FAQs, compiled from the queries of ASI Members. For questions that go beyond the answers available via the FAQ, elementAL has a helpdesk facility where members can ask their specific, unique implementation questions and have them addressed by the ASI team.
- educationAL – is ASI’s learning platform where members can access the training to expand, their knowledge, as well as build capacity for implementation. educationAL course content is informed by the insights we gain from analysing audit reports, in order to integrate specific information on the conformance challenges members are having We encourage you to review the courses on educationAL ahead of completing your self-assessment so that you’re not at a disadvantage during your audit. Remember the courses are designed to meet you at your point of need.
- 45 Minutes on…webinars – are live online sessions designed to move the sustainability conversation beyond just implementing the criteria to creating a real drive for change. With speakers from different parts of the supply chain, academia, civil society etc, members can glean practical examples of how they can effect positive change through collaborative action. For example, the Climate Change Adaptation: Community Health Risk, Resilience and Responses webinar addressed ongoing challenges in this space and provided recommendations for action.
- Registered Specialists – are independent experts that offer specialised support services to support general or specific criteria implementation by members. While there is a cost to engage the Registered Specialists’ services, they offer a possibility to bridge gaps in internal expertise when developing the management systems or processes required to conform to ASI criteria.
- Articles on relevant PSV3 topics – are published on the ASI website and/or in our email outreach (i.e., Member Updates, Public Newsletter) to illustrate or provide insights into differences between the 2017 and 2022 Standards (e.g., Transitioning to PSV3 in the April Member Update)., the status on specific work areas (e.g., ASI’s work to develop a GHG reduction pathway methodology: March Member Update)
In sum, ASI can support members along their certification journey with a diverse offering of content in several formats, and with varying degrees of engagement with the ASI Secretariat and external experts.
Note, however, that while the extent of support will vary from case to case, there are limits as to how involved ASI can become in members’ certification activities. For example, ASI is not able to act as a de facto auditor (i.e., providing evaluations on conformity to Standard criteria in a self-assessment), nor can ASI conduct a member’s self-assessment, or act as a “consultant” and offer prescriptive guidance.
We continue to refine our support framework, striving to deliver increasing value to members. We therefore request that when the above support elements don’t have the information you seek, that you continue to send us your implementation questions, which helps us to further develop our guidance, auditor training, learning modules, FAQs and 45 Minutes on…webinars.
Please contact Chinelo Etiaba, Membership Director if you have any questions.
A list of links to relevant info
- PSV3 Guidance document
- elementAL FAQ (login required)
- educationAL online learning (login required)
- 45 Minutes on recordings
- ASI Registered Specialists
- ASI website newsfeed
- ASI website FAQ
- Article: Transitioning to ASI Performance Standard V3: Pay attention to these criteria
- Article: ASI engagement in global efforts to define 1.5 degree-aligned GHG emissions reduction pathway methodology
SHARE THIS ARTICLE
