15. Internal auditing
Internal audits are important because they are the feedback loop in the quality system. Internal audit outcomes keeps management informed about the performance of the organisation, and about the organization’s
compliance with its own documented system.
Listed below are some of the major internal benefits of internal auditing: Internal audits help determine the effectiveness of the quality system. Internal audits help to determine the adequacy of the quality system. Internal audits help to determine the organization’s compliance to the established quality system.
Internal audits provide a record of the state of an organization, and can be used to trend its progress.
Internal audits help to uncover areas that need improvements.
Internal audits measure products and processes and verify contractual requirements and corrective actions.
Internal audits may also be organised for external reasons:
FLO, Organic, Utz, GlobalGap and others require an organisation to perform internal audits against the standard requirements.
Internal audits are used to prepare for external audits in order that no surprises occur, and an external audit can be run efficiently (lower costs).
15.1 Types of internal audits
Many different types of internal audits exist, dependant of the management goals that are to be achieved. Some examples are;
Product Audit is an in-depth examination of a particular product to
evaluate whether it conforms to product specifications, performance standards, and customer requirements.
Process Audit is performed to verify that processes are working within
established limits. It examines an activity to verify that the inputs, actions and outputs are in accordance with defined requirements.
Compliance Audits are performed to verify that applicable elements of
the quality system are appropriate and have been developed, documented, and effectively implemented in accordance to the organization’s quality policy and quality objectives of the processes.
Auditing for Continual Improvement is performed to evaluate how the
individual processes contribute to the continual improvement of the quality management system.
In this chapter the concentration is on auditing for internal reasons. The chapter highlights the most important features of internal auditing. In depth training is provided by FTO and Twin, and the training program can be downloaded in the second half of 2009 from qms4s.org. More background material on internal auditing is compiled by QMS coach Joseph Ngubwa, downloadable via the same site.
In the paragraphs below, guidance is given to organising Compliance
Audits, with the goal to work towards Audits for Continual Improvement.
Concentration is on purpose, what, how and when of internal auditing.
7. Factual approach to decision making 6. C ontin ual impr ovem ent Reference to standard
ISO 9001 8.2.2 Internal audit: The organization shall conduct internal audits at planned intervals to determine whether the quality management system
a) conforms to the planned arrangements (see 7.1), to the requirements of this International Standard and to the
quality management system requirements established by the organization, and
b) is effectively implemented and maintained.
15.2 Compliance Audits
Purpose
The first internal audit that most organizations organize is a Compliance audit, to verify that applicable elements of the quality system are appropriate and have been developed, documented, and effectively implemented in accordance to the organization’s quality policy and quality objectives of the processes.
Compliance audits aim to:
Help determine the organization’s compliance to the established quality system.
Help to determine the effectiveness of the quality system. Help to determine the adequacy of the quality system.
Provide input for management decisions (so that, safety, quality problems and costs can be prevented or rectified).
Provide visible management support of the quality program
What to audit
The first step is to audit the Compliance of the developed quality documentation to verify:
Adequacy and completeness of documentation – are procedures in place for each category, department or operations and their
requirements in place.
Compliance with regulations and private standards that the organizations must or wishes to comply with.
Compliance to the documented procedures, preventive action, correction, working instructions and registration. Is staff actually working according to procedures?
The effectiveness of the procedures towards reaching the quality objectives of the respective process.
After the first draft of the quality manual has been compiled, and internal auditors trained, an internal auditor can start his/her round of audits. For the Twin/FTO QMS program example audit checklists are available at: www.qms4s.org/downloads.
15.3 Auditing for Continual Improvement
Purpose
Auditing for Continual Improvement forms the core of the Check in the P-D-C-A improvement cycle. Purposes of Continual Improvement Audits are:
To serve as improvement tool.
To help to uncover areas that need improvements.
Internal audits provide a record of the state of an organization, and can be used to trend its progress.
What to audit
To audit effectively, the internal auditor will have to evaluate the
performance of individual processes, and how processes contribute to the continual improvement of the quality management system. Continual improvement audits are based on:
The quality policy; Quality objectives; Previous audit results; Analysis of data;
Corrective and preventive actions; Previous management review.