Our ethical commitment
QA 143 expresses our commitment to high standards of ethics through our Code of Ethics as well as our Anti-Corruption and Anti-Bribery Policy and our Human Rights Policy. If any QA 143 employee has concerns about any aspect of the way that we implement these policies, we encourage them to speak to their managers or to refer to our Whistleblowing Hotline. Similarly, we are always ready to listen to anyone outside the company who wishes to raise a concern, make a complaint, or express a grievance relating to our ethical conduct.
What you need to do
If you wish to raise a concern about QA 143 or its subcontractors, you should either contact one of our employees directly or send an e-mail to ethicsenquiries@qa-iraq.com.
Please give as much information as possible of the circumstances and the reasons why you believe QA 143 to be at fault.
We encourage you to share your name and contact details because this makes it much easier to respond. If you feel uncomfortable sharing your name, we will respect your wish to remain anonymous. If possible, we will set up an alternative line of communication, for example through an anonymous e-mail account.
Our Response
We will respond to your communication promptly, and in any case within five working days. Our first steps will be to make an initial evaluation of your concern and then to appoint a QA 143 point of contact. If we can resolve the matter quickly, we will do so. If we need time to conduct an investigation, our point of contact will offer progress updates and report on the outcome.
We will respect your confidentiality as far as possible and subject to the requirements of the law. However, if it emerges that a criminal act may have taken place, we may need to report the matter to the appropriate government authorities. We will give our full support to any subsequent government investigation and, in those circumstances, we may be required to share details of any correspondence with you.
Our policy
QA 143 will provide full details of our formal internal policy on responding to external concerns and complaints on request.
Our ethical commitment
All personnel and the public may submit a grievance to QA 143
Personnel are encouraged to speak to their line manager as per the Internal Grievance procedure or may use the Whistleblowing procedure. These can be requested from HR and managers and employees are trained on these procedures.
The public wishing to submit an external grievance to QA 143 in Iraq should follow Iraq’s Third-Party Complaints procedure explained below. Further information may be requested from the Compliance Teams. Grievances submitted can be violations against international, national and local laws or human rights, or non-compliance to the standards that QA 143 is certified to.
External grievances
may be submitted in English, or Arabic to the Compliance Team verbally or in writing;
Iraq: Compliance@qa-iraq.com / +964 780 1500075
- Grievances may be submitted anonymously and shall be treated confidentially.
- External grievances received shall be acknowledged within 1 day.
- QA 143 in Iraq will investigate the complaint in a fair and transparent manner ensuring there is independent oversight and no conflict of interest.
- QA 143 shall communicate with appropriate authorities where necessary and shall cooperate with official external investigations.
- Root causes will be identified where necessary and corrective and/or preventive actions shall be taken, including disciplinary action commensurate with any infractions.
- QA 143 shall seek to resolve the complaint within 7 days, providing regular updates to the person raising the grievance.
- QA 143 shall seek to reach a resolution with the person raising the grievance that is satisfactory to both sides. If is not possible to agree on a solution, the grievance may be escalated to the Appeal Committee for review and final decision.
- Both personnel and the public also have the right to report grievances to a competent authority.
