Internal audit is one of the most commonly used methods for detecting nonconformity from defined requirements. It is often performed by an external company, mainly due to insufficient company capacity or staff incompetence, as the internal auditor has to meet specific training requirements and length of professional experience. Nonconformity from standard and defined procedures can be identified in a timely manner during cross-functional internal audits, so you can easily avoid annoying situations during 3rd party certification audits and 2nd party customer audits or unannounced external inspections.
What are the requirements for performing internal audits:
- Competence - The audit is performed by an authorized qualified person (the auditor must have a certificate of training of the internal auditor according to the relevant ISO standard and EN ISO 19011 standard for auditing).
- Independence - The auditor must not audit the area of the company in which the normal course of business is performed.
- Facts and Evidence - The audit report should respect the veracity and accuracy of audit activities.
- Confidentiality - All information obtained may not be used for personal gain. The information must be protected against leakage and misuse.
- Risk-based approach - The risk-based approach should have a significant impact on the planning, implementation and reporting of audits to ensure that audits focus on matters that are significant to the audit client and to achieving the objectives of the audit program.
If any of the requirements for conducting internal audits are not met, the company should reassess whether it will conduct internal audits on its own and train its own internal auditors, or increase their number, or use an external company to perform internal audits on a regular basis.
Possibilities of using internal audit:
- Verification of compliance with internal procedures and use of valid documentation.
- Verification of compliance with the requirements of standards and legislative requirements with respect to the activities of the organization.
- Detection of significant deficiencies and discrepancies within the audited area.
- Proposed measures and presentation of audit results.
Picture: Audit progress
Advantages of performing an internal audit of management systems by CeMS:
- Training and professional implementation of internal audits in the client's organization.
- Pre-prepared materials and questionnaires for the analysis of the organization´s management systems.
- Auditors use appropriate management methods and have knowledge of specific core tools (SPC, MSA, APQP, PPAP, Pareto analysis, 5xWhy, Ishikawa diagram, 5S, etc.) to control the implementation of individual elements of the management system.
- Reducing the complexity of preparation for the 3rd party certification audit.
- Faster internal audit and relieving operations for the organization's employees.