A third-party inspection agency (TPIA or TPI) is a business organization, complying with the ISO 17020 standards. Third-party inspection or "Category A" is the most stringent of the 3 categories of inspection organizations that the standard specifies. Such organizations are third-party inspection agencies that must not be involved in any activities other than inspection and testing. Based on this requirement, the third-party inspection agency must not be involved in design, procurement, fabrication, construction, or installation. All companies and parties such as buyers, sellers, engineering companies, plant owners must have access to these agencies and use their services. Confidentiality, independence, impartiality, and integrity are important conditions for being a third-party inspection agency.
The ISO 9000 family is a set of five quality management systems (QMS) standards by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) that help organizations ensure they meet customer and other stakeholder needs within statutory and regulatory requirements related to a product or service. ISO 9000 deals with the fundamentals of QMS, including the seven quality management principles that underlie the family of standards. ISO 9001 deals with the requirements that organizations wishing to meet the standard must fulfill. ISO 9002 is a model for quality assurance in production and installation. ISO 9003 for quality assurance in final inspection and test. ISO 9004 gives guidance on achieving sustained organizational success.
An audit is an "independent examination of financial information of any entity, whether profit oriented or not, irrespective of its size or legal form when such an examination is conducted with a view to express an opinion thereon." Auditing also attempts to ensure that the books of accounts are properly maintained by the concern as required by law. Auditors consider the propositions before them, obtain evidence, roll forward prior year working papers, and evaluate the propositions in their auditing report.
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration is a regulatory agency of the United States Department of Labor that originally had federal visitorial powers to inspect and examine workplaces. The United States Congress established the agency under the Occupational Safety and Health Act, which President Richard M. Nixon signed into law on December 29, 1970. OSHA's mission is to "assure safe and healthy working conditions for working men and women by setting and enforcing standards and by providing training, outreach, education, and assistance." The agency is also charged with enforcing a variety of whistleblower statutes and regulations. OSHA's workplace safety inspections have been shown to reduce injury rates and injury costs without adverse effects on employment, sales, credit ratings, or firm survival.
Organic certification is a certification process for producers of organic food and other organic agricultural products, in the European Union more commonly known as ecological or biological products. In general, any business directly involved in food production can be certified, including seed suppliers, farmers, food processors, retailers and restaurants. A lesser known counterpart is certification for organic textiles that includes certification of textile products made from organically grown fibres.
An inspection is, most generally, an organized examination or formal evaluation exercise. In engineering activities inspection involves the measurements, tests, and gauges applied to certain characteristics in regard to an object or activity. The results are usually compared to specified requirements and standards for determining whether the item or activity is in line with these targets, often with a Standard Inspection Procedure in place to ensure consistent checking. Inspections are usually non-destructive.
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency is a regulatory agency that is dedicated to the safeguarding of food, plants, and animals (FPA) in Canada, thus enhancing the health and well-being of Canada's people, environment and economy. The agency is responsible to the Minister of Health.
Current good manufacturing practices (cGMP) are those conforming to the guidelines recommended by relevant agencies. Those agencies control the authorization and licensing of the manufacture and sale of food and beverages, cosmetics, pharmaceutical products, dietary supplements, and medical devices. These guidelines provide minimum requirements that a manufacturer must meet to assure that their products are consistently high in quality, from batch to batch, for their intended use. The rules that govern each industry may differ significantly; however, the main purpose of GMP is always to prevent harm from occurring to the end user. Additional tenets include ensuring the end product is free from contamination, that it is consistent in its manufacture, that its manufacture has been well documented, that personnel are well trained, and that the product has been checked for quality more than just at the end phase. GMP is typically ensured through the effective use of a quality management system (QMS).
The presence of the logo on commercial products indicates that the manufacturer or importer affirms the goods' conformity with European health, safety, and environmental protection standards. It is not a quality indicator or a certification mark. The CE marking is required for goods sold in the European Economic Area (EEA); goods sold elsewhere may also carry the mark.
The Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI) is the highest supervisory organ of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). The CCDI is under the control of the CCP Central Committee, per the principle of unified power. It is tasked with defending the party constitution, enforcing inner-party regulations, coordinating anti-corruption work, and safeguarding the core position of Xi Jinping in the CCP Central Committee and the party as a whole. Safeguarding the political position of Xi and the Central Committee is, officially, the CCDI's highest responsibility. Since the vast majority of officials at all levels of government are also CCP members, the commission is, in practice, the top anti-corruption body in China.
Accreditation is the independent, third-party evaluation of a conformity assessment body against recognised standards, conveying formal demonstration of its impartiality and competence to carry out specific conformity assessment tasks.
Welder certification, is a process which examines and documents a welder's capability to create welds of acceptable quality following a well defined welding procedure.
The Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism (C-TPAT) is a voluntary supply-chain security program led by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) focused on improving the security of private companies' supply chains with respect to terrorism. The program was launched in November 2001 with seven initial participants, all large U.S. companies. As of December 1, 2014, the program had 10,854 members. The 4,315 importers in the program account for approximately 54% of the value of all merchandise imported into the U.S.
Shaken (車検), a contraction of Jidōsha Kensa Tōrokuseido, is the name of the vehicle inspection program in Japan for motor vehicles over 250 cc in engine displacement.
The Labour Inspection Convention, 1947 , also referred to as ILO Convention no. 81 or C081, is a governance convention adopted by the International Labour Organization on July 11, 1947. It entered into force on April 7, 1950 and has been ratified by 148 of the 186 ILO member states as of 2021. The convention sets out principles concerning the organization, functions, and operation of labour inspection systems to ensure enforcement of national laws related to working conditions and worker protections in the commercial and industrial sectors. A Protocol adopted in 1995 expands the coverage of Convention No. 81 to non-commercial or industrial sectors.
Environment, health and safety (EHS) is the set that studies and implements the practical aspects of protecting the environment and maintaining health and safety at occupation. In simple terms it is what organizations must do to make sure that their activities do not cause harm to anyone. Commonly, quality - quality assurance and quality control - is adjoined to form the company division known as HSQE.
The Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency (NISA) (原子力安全・保安院, Genshiryoku Anzen Hoanin) was a Japanese nuclear regulatory and oversight branch of the Agency for Natural Resources and Energy under the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI). It was created in 2001 during the 2001 Central Government Reform.
The Board of Audit and Inspection is a national organization headquartered in Seoul, South Korea. Its primary function is the audit and inspection of the accounts of state and administrative bodies.
The National Green Building Standard (NGBS) is an ANSI-approved green building certification program, specifically focused on single-family and multi-family residential buildings, remodeling projects, and land developments.
The testing, inspection and certification (TIC) sector consists of conformity assessment bodies who provide services ranging from auditing and inspection, to testing, verification, quality assurance and certification. The sector consists of both in-house and outsourced services.
International waste is any organic waste product that is deemed unsafe to be released into the environment or standard municipal solid waste stream that has originated from an external country, and sometimes territory. Such waste must be treated before it can be disposed of in the municipal solid waste stream to prevent sickness and environmental damage. If not managed properly, regulated garbage can have detrimental impacts on agriculture, livestock, and crops.