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In the complex landscape of sustainability certification, assurance hinges on the integrity and effectiveness of oversight. That’s where Oversight Bodies come in. RSB has integrated a third-party technical Oversight Body, Sajoma Climate, into its sustainability certification system, providing an impartial layer of scrutiny and integrity to RSB certification.
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What are Oversight Bodies?
Compared to Certification Bodies (CBs), which assess a Participating Operator’s compliance with a standard as part of the certification process, Oversight Bodies monitor and evaluate the overall certification decisions and auditing process to ensure consistency and assurance across CBs in implementing the requirements of RSB certification.
In other words, Oversight Bodies elevate the credibility of assurance processes by introducing a layer of independent review and continuous improvement.
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What is Sajoma’s role?
As RSB’s Oversight Body, Sajoma helps to ensure that CB activities are carried out to the highest possible standard and that any areas of concern are brought to the attention of the RSB Secretariat.
Sajoma fulfils a range of critical functions from a system integrity standpoint:
- Increasing confidence in assurance: Sajoma increases stakeholder trust in RSB’s certification system by providing thorough, unbiased assessments of a sample of certification reports* of each CB and their performance.
- Strengthening accreditation control: By broadening the scope of certification activity oversight by increasing the amount of assessed reports and the time and deep on the assessment, Sajoma complements ISO-conforming accreditation and ensures deeper control over compliance.
- Independent review and risk assessment: Sajoma independently reviews audit reports, checks for discrepancies, and identifies risks within assurance processes. These efforts reduce vulnerabilities in the certification system.
- Promoting best practices: Sajoma works with CBs to improve audit quality, accuracy of reporting, and alignment with international standards.
- Knowledge sharing and interpretation: Sajoma fosters collaboration between Certification Bodies, offering guidance on interpreting standards and facilitating workshops and calibration meetings to ensure consistency.
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Javier Castro, an independent consultant that works with Sajoma, and RSB Standards & Certifications Director, Amparo Arellano, at 2024 RSB Formal Assembly of Delegates
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As RSB’s technical Oversight Body, Sajoma’s unique contributions and responsibilities under RSB include:
- Developing technical checklists: Sajoma creates and maintains comprehensive checklists for assessing certification reports, ensuring consistent evaluations across CBs.
- Conducting witness audits: Sajoma conducts at least one audit per Certification Body annually, with reports detailing outcomes and recommendations. Witness audits verify that CBs understand and implement RSB standards properly.
- Regular risk-based sampling: Sajoma selects and reviews audit samples based on risk criteria, addressing areas of concern and aligning oversight with EU RED and ICAO CORSIA requirements.
- Quarterly and annual reporting: Sajoma provides regular activity reports to RSB, highlighting CB performances, areas of concern, and recommendations for improvement.
- Technical support: Sajoma answers technical queries on GHG calculations and supports standard development processes.
- CB onboarding and training: Sajoma ensures new CBs meet RSB’s rigorous requirements through thorough onboarding, training, and auditor verification.
This is transformative for assurance systems – enhancing credibility, fostering continuous learning, mitigating risk, and strengthening transparency.
In this role, Sajoma reassures stakeholders of certification reliability, while their collaborative role promotes ongoing improvement among CBs. Furthermore, their proactive identification of assurance risks ensures RSB’s certification system remains robust and adaptable, while their detailed reporting and open communication enhance stakeholder trust.
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Growing forward
The integration of Sajoma as RSB’s technical Oversight Body exemplifies best practices in assurance, combining rigorous oversight with adaptive learning. This unique approach strengthens RSB’s position as a leader in sustainability certification, ensuring its systems meet the highest standards of credibility, transparency, and technical excellence.
As RSB and Sajoma’s collaborative efforts grow, so too will our innovation and resilience in certification systems. Together, we are well-equipped to address emerging challenges, set new benchmarks for technical oversight, and further advance the sustainability goals that lie at the heart of our shared mission.
If you’d like to know more, reach out to the RSB Certification team: certification@rsb.org
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* Not all reports are evaluated.
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