Systems audits are just like any other audit: they are a means of checking whether predefined conditions are being met. An audit may be a check of an organisation's performance against any number of criteria:
- Legal and other quasi-obligations placed upon the organisation.
- Industry best standards.
- Published, or internal, objectives and targets.
- Government benchmarks.
- Customer requirements.
The process of conducting a systems audit is actually quite simple:
| Plan |
- Form an audit team.
- Map out the scope of the audit, referring to any audit procedures, previous audit reports, audit protocols and/or legal requirements.
- Contact auditees to confirm availability and assistance.
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| Do |
- Gather evidence of performance by conducting interviews, following audit trails, reviewing documents and records, assessing the achievement of objectives and making observations.
- Use a sampling technique: for example see five items of evidence; if there are no weaknesses, move on; if weaknesses are discovered extend the audit trail; see five more items; and so on until no weaknesses are discovered and the extent of the problem is determined.
- Record observations as the audit proceeds.
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| Report |
- Write a report that contains purely factual observations and describes the nature of any non-conformances, the detail of any corrective and preventive actions, target implementation dates and the responsibilities for each action.
- Agree corrective/preventive actions between the auditor(s) and the auditee(s) at the time of the audit.
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| Follow-up |
- Some time after the audit, undertake a follow-up visit to ensure that all corrective/preventive actions identified during the audit have been taken.
- Review the effectiveness of corrective/preventive actions: were they appropriate.
- Once corrective/preventive actions have been signed off, complete the audit report.
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Anthony J Lambert, the proprietor of Lambert/rubicon, is a Principal Environmental Auditor registered with the Institution of Environmental Management and Assessment (IEMA). If you want to carry out an audit of your management system(s), Lambert/rubicon can help. See the Credentials page for examples of work that Lambert/rubicon has undertaken or go to the About page to contact Lambert/rubicon.
© 1999-2008 Lambert/rubicon. London (UK).
