SPRING 2012

190 THE DISTRIBUTOR’S LINK
ADDING VALUE TO YOUR INTERNAL AUDIT PROGRAM continued from page 184
It is also important to realize that providing training to
internal auditors is an investment for the organization.
Not all training needs to be classroom training. It also
does not need to be provided by an outside source. A
peer can provide training to an internal auditor. Internal
auditors can also be trained by serving as a team
member on audits prior to serving as an internal auditor
by themselves. However, since many organizations use
internal auditors in a part-time role, they frequently do
not have the experience in understanding a specific
standard. There are many resources available; many of
which are available at no cost. One of the best
resources available to internal auditors that are
conducting ISO 9001 is the work developed by the
Auditing Practices Group.
The Auditing Practices Group is an informal
group of quality management system
(QMS) experts, auditors and
practitioners drawn from the ISO
Technical Committee 176
Quality Management and
Quality Assurance (ISO/TC
176) and the International
Accreditation Forum (IAF). It
has developed a number of
guidance papers and presentations
that contain ideas, examples and
explanations about the auditing of QMSs.
These reflect the process-based
approach that is essential for
auditing the requirements of ISO
9001 Quality management
systems – Requirements.
These papers can be
found by visiting
www.iso.org/tc176/
ISO9001AuditingPracticesGroup.
Communication can be further
improved by having the internal auditor
conduct an opening and closing meeting. These
meetings ensure that those involved understand the
process and scope for the internal audit during the
opening meeting. The closing meeting offers an
opportunity to discuss the findings and ensure
understanding of the issues by both the internal auditor
and auditee. In addition, internal auditors should be
trained to provide feedback to the auditee any time an
issue is identified. The auditee should not be surprised at
the closing meeting with any results. Using these simple
communication methods can improve value by eliminating
misunderstandings and provide a method for partnering to
improve the performance of the organization.
When an
organization is required to
develop an internal audit program
instead of choosing to implement
one, they are more likely to
not see the value in
internal audits.
Develop a plan
on improving value. Without
a plan, it is unknown what
needs to change, thereby
minimizing your opportunity
to improve value.
Another method to improve the value of internal
audits is the report format. If your organization is only
identifying findings and is not identifying additional
format, consider the report format being used.
Checklists tend to not identify much information and may
lead the internal auditor to not performing an in-depth
audit. Consider requiring an executive summary that
provides quick details regarding the audit. This provides
management the ability to review the information quickly
and see from a summary the results of the audit. The
organization should also consider circulating the results
of the audit report to other departments and managers.
Providing audit reports for others to review allows others
in the organization to be proactive in taking action in their
respective work areas. This provides an opportunity to
eliminate a potential noncompliance before it
occurs.
The organization can also
consider conducting audits based
on risk and using
management to help develop
the internal audit schedule to
obtain their buy-in. Many
organizations adopt an approach
where they audit every department
or every requirement in a standard
every year. Many standards indicate that
internal audits can be scheduled taking into
consideration the results of past audits
and the importance of the area to
the organization. Departments
that are not performing as well
should be audited more
frequently than organizations
that are performing well.
Production departments are more
critical to audit than management.
If an organization is struggling to meet
its internal audit schedule, thereby
scheduling minimal time to conduct audits in each
area, moving to an approach where they consider risk in
developing the schedule will allow more time in fewer
areas which can add value to ensuring the department is
covered.
While there are many opportunities for an internal
auditor to add value, the responsible parties for
conducting audits should select and focus on a few key
activities and then continue to improve. Internal audits
are one of the cornerstones on which a management
system is based. A little investment into creating an
improved program can yield better results thus improving
value to the organization.