Procedure for handling complaints and appeals
RECEIPT AND REGISTRATION
Whenever a client wishes to make a complaint or appeal related to a document or an inspection/certification service provided by 3i+g, he/she must complete the Complaints and Appeals Form available at Document_Complaints_and_Appeals_form_(DP-FQA_Ed.1.00).doc and send it to the e-mail address calidad@asoc-aluminio.es. This form sets out all the necessary information: date of issue; identification and contact details of the notifying person; name of the entity, company or organisation on whose behalf or legal representation he/she is acting; code or reference of the report, certificate, contract or service related to the complaint or appeal; description of the facts, reasons, arguments and considerations motivating the complaint or appeal; actions requested; and description of the annexes provided.
Immediately after receiving a complaint or an appeal, the personnel of the Certification Management Area in charge of the complaints and appeals mailbox, shall take care of:
- Register all the information received in the incident management application, where it will be identified by an automatically assigned number.
- Forward all information received to the Operations and Quality Manager to confirm whether the complaint or appeal is related to the inspection/certification activities for which he/she is responsible.
- Send acknowledgement of receipt to the client, via e-mail, confirming receipt and registration of the complaint or appeal, as well as the start of the resolution process.
From this moment on, all information provided by the client, and in particular personal data, will be treated by 3i+g in such a way as to guarantee its confidentiality.
VALIDATION
The Operations and Quality Manager, supported by internal 3i+g staff and the AEA Labels Commission, will be responsible for confirming whether the complaint or appeal is related to the inspection/certification activities for which he/she is responsible and, if so, for gathering and verifying all the information necessary to validate the complaint or appeal.
Where the complaint or appeal is deemed inadmissible, the client should be informed of the decision and the reasons for it, as well as the possible channels and instances of recourse, if any.
INVESTIGATION AND DECISION ON ACTIONS TO BE TAKEN
Once a complaint or appeal has been validated, the Operations and Quality Director will launch an investigation together with the heads of the areas involved, in order to resolve it and decide on the type of actions to be taken.
The decision resolving the complaint or appeal, and subsequently communicated to the complainant, must be made, reviewed and approved by persons who were not involved in the inspection or certification activities giving rise to the complaint or appeal. Investigations and decisions regarding appeals should not result in any discriminatory action.
The requirements for determining and implementing the necessary corrective and preventive actions, as well as for recording their results and reviewing their effectiveness, are defined in the Management of Corrective and Preventive Actions procedure.
To ensure that no conflict of interest exists, 3i+g will never use personnel who have provided consultancy to a client, or have been employed by a client, to review or approve the resolution of a complaint or appeal related to that client for two years following the termination of consultancy or employment.
RESPONSE
The overall authority and responsibility for formal response to all complaints and appeals rests with the Director of Operations and Quality, regardless of the individuals and committees involved in the handling and resolution of such complaints and appeals.
The Certification Management Area shall provide the person lodging the complaint or appeal with the progress reports and the outcome of the handling of the complaint or appeal, signed by the Operations and Quality Director.
FOLLOW-UP AND RECORDING OF ACTIONS TAKEN TO RESOLVE THEM
All relevant information related to the complaint or appeal (corrective actions taken or planned, areas involved, resources required, date of resolution, etc.) should be transferred to the Operations and Quality Director and recorded in the management application for proper follow-up and to ensure that appropriate actions are taken.
The completion of the complaint or appeal handling process will be formally communicated to the complainant, together with the outcome of the grievance process.
