In order to protect our employees and customers as far as possible and at the same time to be able to conduct our business, we have taken the following measures:
- The health of our employees and the prevention of infection is our highest priority. All employees have been explicitly informed about the hygiene measures in force and are familiar with the processes.
- Employees can consult their line manager to explore the possibility of working remotely/from home. Persons at risk of serious illnesses should work from home.
- Returnees from crisis areas (as designated by WHO) and employees who have been in contact with infected persons must work from home for the incubation period of 14 days or FMPA/GLZ credits will be reduced.
- Customer events and face-to-face meetings have been cancelled or replaced by contactless methods such as video conferences and online meetings. As far as legally possible, we are also implementing our audit procedures remotely via video conferencing.
- We are in constant contact with our company physicians and other specialists who, via numerous networks, are aware of the current status of the spread of SARS-CoV-2/COVID, which is known as the coronavirus. So far, we are not aware of any cases of infection within TÜV NORD GROUP.
Performance of audits
Against the background of these precautionary measures, we will continue to carry out audits at our customers' premises as planned. Exceptions are audits at companies that:
- are located in an area that has been classified as a risk area by the WHO
- are in a country for which a travel warning has been issued by the Federal Foreign Office, or
- deny access to the audit team on the basis of self-imposed security measures.
Customers can also find this information on the TÜV NORD CERT website.
Remote audits
If an on-site audit is not possible, audits can in many cases be carried out via video conference as remote audits. In exceptional cases with well-founded reasons, it is possible to carry out the audits up to 100% remotely. This requires the approval of the certification body.
A training video on how to perform remote audits ("08_conducting remote audits") can be found in SharePoint. Please also note "5e_coronavirus guideline for auditors" and "3e_coronavirus guideline for remote audits" in SharePoint.
For our customers we have created a website with the most important information about remote audits. Here customers can also find a short image video explaining the process.
Postponement of audits
The postponement of an audit is only possible within the framework granted by the certification body and must always be agreed with the PC management. Should this be unavoidable, the following applies: A new audit date must be agreed with the customer. The new date must be entered into the system by the audit manager via the release workflow. All information can be found in "4e_customer information on the postponement of audits" in SharePoint.
Information on the Intranet
Please also note the information from the Management Board on the handling of the Corona pandemic in the Intranet as well as the FAQ page with information on business trips and cases of illness.