The cost of failing an environmental/quality management systems audit can take a number of forms: companies can lose valuable contracts or prized certifications; they may have to pay for an expensive range of improvements demanded by a client; they may experience and erosion of efficiency; etc.
ISO 19011: 2002 is a guidelines for quality and/or environmental management systems auditing. It is intended that by using this new standard, organizations can save time, effort and money by:
- Avoiding confusion over the objectives of the environmental or quality audit programme .
- Securing agreement of the goals for individual audits within an audit programme .
- Reducing duplication of effort when conducting combined environmental/quality audits.
- Ensuring audit reports follow the best format and contain all the relevant information.
- Evaluating the competence of members of an audit team against appropriate criteria.
Whatever the reason for the audit, however ( eg : certification, internal review, contract compliance, etc) itis intended that organizations can move efficiently through the process by applying the guidelines.
FOUR RESOURCES
Within one single standard there are now four critical decision/support resources for the efficient planning, conduct and evaluation of quality and/or environmental audits:
- A clear explanation of the principles of management systems auditing.
- Guidance on the management of audit programmes .
- Guidance on the conduct of internal or external audits.
- Advice on the competence and evaluation of auditors.
At the core of the standard is a set of principles that will help anyone connected with an audit to perform effectively. And because it focuses primarily on the underlying processes of audit management, it can also be adapted for use when auditing any management system. |
