CORONAVIRUS EMERGENCY MARCH 2020

CARES Contingency measures: Covid-19 outbreak. 

The health and safety of all our staff, professional auditors and clients is the overarching priority of CARES.

Given the rapidly escalating issues faced across a number of international markets as the result of the global Coronavirus/Covid-19 outbreak, CARES has now instituted a series of contingency measures to ensure the wellbeing of our stakeholders remains paramount.

For CARES clients these measures are designed to maintain the smooth running of ongoing certification processes while mitigating health risks for all parties. This means:

• Deferred audit and assessment processes in certain cases,
• Remote assessment as part of live certification processes, and  
• All impacted clients will be advised directly of next steps

In the run-up to any planned onsite audits CARES will conduct a risk assessment of the travel and health implications of our audit team attending premises in person. Each case will be assessed on the basis of contemporaneous advice from the relevant authorities, in particular HMG’s Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO).

A decision to defer audit, or conduct remote assessments, will be taken on the basis of this advice. CARES’ prudent contingency measures have been shared with regulators and is fully aligned with IAF ID3:2011 and UKAS Technical Policy Statement TPS62.

Any clients directly impacted as a result of these measures will be contacted directly. It is also incumbent on clients to advise CARES as soon as possible of any plant closures or local and regional restrictions likely to impact travel for our audit team.

These measures are in response to extraordinary circumstances and will be constantly reviewed as the situation evolves.

Please contact CARES directly if you have any questions relating to these contingency measures via: general@ukcares.com

Thank you for your understanding and support during this emergency. We will advise you again immediately of any changes to these arrangements.

11 March 2020