ANAB Webinar: Let's Talk Types of Audits

Описание: In this free ANAB Webinar “Let’s Talk Types of Audits,” Melanie Ross covers the viewpoints and ways to perform audits.

Ross discusses in detail the three types of audits used by management systems:
• 1st party audits (i.e., internal audits) are conducted by internal staff or hired consultants. They aim to internally strengthen the management system and overall operations from a 1st party perspective.
• 2nd party audits are performed by individuals from outside the organization (e.g., vendor, subcontractors, or supplier to organization) with vested interest in the organizations. They are used to identify risks and opportunities and to evaluate performance for product/service. The goal is to identify supply chain risks that could impact operations of organization performing the audit.
• 3rd party audits are performed by individuals completely independent of the organization. They are often performed by regulatory, certification, or accreditation audits. The goal is to provide objective evaluation of compliance, risk, and performance to enhance marketability and demonstrate commitment to meeting defined requirements.

Ross now covers the two ways to perform an audit:
• Horizontal audit: is when you audit one process (e.g., training records or document control) in an organization. It is good for corrective action and follow up, but it is not the best of a holistic observation of the organization.
• Vertical audit: is when all (or most) processes used by a department are assessed. It is conducted at one process at a time and is helpful to see the linkages between the processes.

Typically, a blend of horizontal and vertical audits are used.

There are different methods to perform an audit, such as document review, observation, witnessing, and interviewing:
• Document review allows the auditor to understand the auditee’s operations, prepare audit objectives, prepare applicable audit work documents, determine possible conformity to audit criteria, and detect possible areas for concern.
• Observation refers to actively observing the physical surroundings and activities being performed. It allows us to notice things quickly (e.g., seeing the facilities, storage conditions, and environmental conditions) and gather objective evidence.
• Witnessing (also called method witnessing or technical competence evaluation) allows auditors to observe the test or calibration, review the procedure or method, interview personnel, and inspect equipment and records. Unlike observation, witnessing goes a step further and involves the direct observation and intentional act of watching authorized personnel perform tasks, activities, and processes. Ross notes that it is okay if the auditors do not possess technical expertise of the method witness.
• Interviewing should be held with individuals from appropriate levels and functions and be conducted during normal working hours at the normal workplace. It is also important to explain the reason for the interview and putting the individual at ease. It is best practice to ask the individual describe the process, summarize the results of the interview, and thanking the individual for taking the time to participate in the interview.

Next, Ross discusses what drives an audit program. She covers the following motivations of an audit program: standard-driven, organization-driven, client-driven, industry-driven, and regulation-driven.

At the end of the webinar, questions were asked by the attendees and answered by the presenter. These included:
• Could you comment on the relationship of 1st party audit as preparation for a 3rd party audit, can this be part of the design of a 1st party audit? Is that common?
• Why do you believe that drivers and motivations have an impact on auditing? And which ones would be the most relevant?
• As a consulting firm what is the process to get ANAB Accreditation?
• The discussion of "observation" versus "witnessing" was great. Thank you! Is there an "observation" requirement that requires documentation or is this more for awareness to be, well, aware and observe?
• Is there a set of standardizations that most audits follow?
• We are an ISO 17025 lab. Do we need to use that ISO checklist as part of our Internal Audit?

Links:
Find ANAB Training: https://anab.ansi.org/find-training/
ANAB Public Training Schedule: https://anab.ansi.org/training-course...
Find ANAB Self-paced Training: https://anab.ansi.org/online-classes/
Learn more about ANAB: https://anab.ansi.org/
Watch more free webinars from ANAB: https://anab.ansi.org/webinars/
Shop standards at the ANSI webstore: https://webstore.ansi.org/
ANAB is an ANSI affiliate. Learn more about ANSI at: https://ansi.org/
Follow ANAB on LinkedIn:   / anab-ansi-national-accreditation-board  
Follow ANAB on Facebook:   / anabaccredit  
Follow ANAB on X: https://x.com/ANAB_ACCREDIT
Follow ANAB on Instagram:   / anabaccredit