Certification of Quality Management Systems During the Covid-19 Pandemic

The purpose of this paper is to analyze what decisions regarding the certification of management systems were made by organizations in the face of restrictions forced by the pandemic. The data analyzed in the paper is part of a project aimed at examining the organizational behavior of pro-quality managed enterprises during the Covid-19 pandemic. The part of the research presented in this paper, the respondents were asked questions about the impact of the pandemic on the certification process and the organization of external audits. The database developed for the purpose of the study contained data of 1,200 companies with a certified management system compliant with the requirements of ISO 9001. Organizations representing both service and production activities participated in the research. The research sample included both private and public sector organizations. The research results indicate that despite the difficulties related to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, audits carried out by certification bodies during the pandemic took place in a traditional form (“on site”), where, a particular impact on the way respondents dealt with the organization of external certification had factors such as the size of the organization as well as the number of certification cycles.