Certification

The key characteristics of audits against the ResponsibleSteel Standard are:

01

Third-party audits and certification decisions to enable high levels of independence and impartiality

02

Site visits to enhance confidence in audit findings

03

Stakeholder engagement in audits to ensure a rich and balanced collection of information and evidence

04

Transparent audit findings and certification decisions to build and maintain trust in the ResponsibleSteel programme

These are the main steps to certification:

  • Site self-assessment against the ResponsibleSteel Standard
  • Stage 1 audit, including a desktop review of site documentation, data, records and self-assessment, and a stakeholder and media analysis
  • Stage 2 audit, including an on-site visit, interviews with site management, workers and external stakeholders
  • Audit report compilation by the certification body and review by an independent Assurance Panel
  • Certification decision and publication on the ResponsibleSteel website
  • Surveillance, including ongoing monitoring and a surveillance audit

Quality control – the Assurance Panel review

After the audit report is compiled by the certification body, the ResponsibleSteel Assurance Panel reviews the document. This is one of the key stages in certification with the independent panel taking the viewpoint of external stakeholders and ensuring that the report is of good quality and supports the auditor’s certification recommendation. To find out more about the Panel and their role in verifying that certification decisions are rigorous, visit the ‘Quality control – the Assurance Panel review’ page.

Certification resources

We have collated all the information and all the resources needed to become certified and to audit against the ResponsibleSteel Standard in one place. As we gain experience with ResponsibleSteel audits, the documents held on the ‘Certification Resources’ page will be revised and updated. We therefore recommend that you visit this page from time to time to make sure you are working with the most up to date versions.