How do you document and review your Interested Parties?

Hi. I'm struggling to come up a way to inform our auditors as to who our interested parties are in relation to the QMS and what their requirements are without doing it in a list format. Can anyone share how you do it?

I've seen lists of companies which include staff, contractors, customers and audit bodies however my managers don't want to go down that road as it leaves us open to potential non-conformances if our auditors think of someone we've left off the list.

Also how do we incorporate the information into our review process?

Dear Vanessa,

There surely are external parties which (could) have influence on your company and your QMS. The following parties come back often:

• Environmental organisations
• Farmers (or groups of farmers)
• Consumer organisations
• Local decision makers
• Health or dietary organisations

Identify them and assess the impact they may have on your company. Also look for ways to get in touch with them to anticipate changes and to participate in the dialog.

I hope that the above gave you some ideas to proceed.

Kind regards,

Gerard Heerkens