Issue 125 – How to prep employees before an audit?
ISO 9001:2015…
How to prep employees before an audit?
I appreciate receiving emails with questions and/or comments from readers of this Newsletter… please continue to do so since it provides me with ideas on what these publications should cover. In my last Newsletter (ISO 9001:2015 Newsletter Issue 124) we discussed the topic of “AMENDMENT 1: Climate Action Changes?”, and now in this Newsletter we will discuss “How to prep employees before an audit?”.
The ISO 9001:2015 Element numbering…
Element 4 – Context of the organization
Element 5 – Leadership
Element 6 – Planning
Element 7 – Support
Element 8 – Operation
Element 9 – Performance evaluation
Element 10 – Improvement
How to prep employees before an audit?… I decided to choose this as the topic for this Newsletter since I’m often asked about how to prep before an External Auditor arrives. In theory, no prep should be needed if you truly have a self-sustaining Quality Management System (QMS) that’s always running in the background… because isn’t that what your Customers expect? However, the reality is that it doesn’t hurt to remind all employees (management included) about an upcoming External Audit… and how each of them can get ready for it.
Key messages to communicate?… The following are a series of paragraphs that I borrowed from a Client who had put together some slides for computer-based training they recently implemented. They cover some important topics to remind all employees about prior to the External Auditor showing up:
Say What You Do – This means document our activities so we will consistently do the job the same way each time. We must make sure we have the appropriate written procedures and other related documents. Do What you Say – This is what the external auditors want to see. Objective evidence that what you say you are doing in the documentation is what you are doing in practice.
Your Basic Responsibilities – Know your job duties – Know your procedures – Do your Job correctly.
An External Auditor may ask if you have any Quality Objectives in place to help achieve the commitments written in the Quality Policy. These are sometimes referred to as Goals or Targets or KPI’s. Quality Objectives should be documented, measurable, achievable, communicated, and updated regularly.
Procedures – Make sure you know how to retrieve current copies of procedures, work instructions, and forms that are needed for your job. If asked for a document, go to the official source to make sure it is the most current version. Make sure there are no old copies of procedures and forms, or other documents being used.
Records – The External Auditor will be looking for evidence that we are following our procedures. You should have records on hand to demonstrate this. Records provide evidence that an event has occurred, or an action completed. Make sure your records are in order and are complete. Fill in ALL parts of a form and don’t leave blanks (or else put “NA”). Be ready to show an actual example that shows how you do your job.
External Audits are undertaken by an auditor or team of auditors appointed by the ISO Registrar. The External Audit is to determine if we meet all the requirements to maintain our ISO 9001 Certification.
How should questions be answered?… Let me begin by saying that how you answer an External Auditor is different than when it’s an internal employee asking audit questions… for internal audits you want to share as much as possible so that any QMS issues can be uncovered well in advance of a surprise reaching a Customer. Since External Audits are to maintain ISO Certification, I recommend the following: a) Only answer the question that was asked. Do not volunteer information. Be comfortable with the silence rather than feeling compelled to offer unnecessary additional details.; b) Answer with the shortest, simplest answer you can think of. If you can answer with a Yes or No, that is all you should do.; c) If you don’t know the answer… don’t guess… just say you don’t know.; d) Don’t try to explain things beyond the questions asked. Make sure your answers match your procedures and work instructions. If you don’t understand the question, ask for clarification.
Be sure to watch for our next Newsletter issue where I will be answering some of the questions that I get from Readers of my Newsletters about how to implement the requirements of ISO 9001:2015 in a specific and practical way, that will also help improve business performance…
To view all of our past Newsletters or to sign up to receive them… click here
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Need Help?
ISO 9001:2015 Internal Audit Outsourcing (we can do it for you OR with you!)
For cost effectiveness, the Internal Audit function can be outsourced to an external experienced auditor on a periodic basis. This will provide an independent and objective assessment to management, of where process issues may exist, along with identifying opportunities for improvement. It will also provide the evidence needed to satisfy the Internal Audit requirements in the ISO Standards. We have used two different approaches with this service: a) We conduct the entire audit ourselves, or b) We act as the lead auditor, and along with your Team of internal auditors, we complete the entire audit together. This latter approach allows your people to receive guidance and direction from an experienced lead auditor while at the same time maintaining significant involvement in the internal audit process.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Internal Process Auditor Training for ISO 9001:2015
The two (2) day Internal Process Auditing for ISO 9001:2015 Training Session is focused on a process approach to auditing with the objective being not only to assess conformance of the quality management system, but also to uncover process improvements during an audit. This goes hand in hand with the process auditing requirements found within ISO 19011 and the process approach covered in ISO 9001:2015, which promotes continual process improvement throughout this Standard. An enhanced checklist is developed, and there will be workshops throughout, to reinforce learning, as well as a live, practice audit. If you are looking to meet the ISO 9001:2015 internal audit requirements and to “raise the bar” for your internal audit program then this is the course you should consider.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Until next time…
Tim Renaud
Helping Business Professionals Reduce Risk and Remove Waste!