An Internal Audit Apocrypha

An “Internal Audit” Apocrypha

Now that ISO9001:2015 is well-established, with billions and billions of new registrations, I felt it time to review some of the well-worn sine qua non of quality management systems. These alternative facts are absolutely essential to the well-running and well-being of the modern QMS. 

Looking ahead to the application of AS9100D, the entire aerospace sector can only reap equivalent rewards gained from the application of such internal audit apocrypha. I leave it to other QMS experts more familiar with ISO-13485, ISO-16949, and the EHS QMS flavors to address their own specific urban legends.

Of course, as always, such phrases as these have been gleaned from publicly posted sources. No intent to defame is ever applied nor implied. And, now, read and enjoy!

Write to me! LarryC@strateja.com

·         Once-a-year internal audit is a requirement.

·         If once-a-year is good enough for the registrar, it’s good enough for me.

·         Annual internal audits are a requirement as have been told by our ISO consultant.

·         Make it once a year for the purpose of effectiveness; more than that it becomes one of the seven wastes which is "Over-processing".

·         The standard, as it is currently being interpreted by auditors is that all clauses must be audited every year.

·         While annual audits are NOT a requirement in ISO 9001, some registrars include this in their contracts, forcing you to do annual internal audits anyway. [I have proof - so not necessarily an urban legend.]

·         Waste, error, and inefficiency are often results of any proper internal audit.

·         It is always best to consider audits from the view of ROI (return on investment.).

·         Once a year is the way to go on the grounds of having to re-validate our certification annually.

·         The result of internal audit is an input of system analysis, conducted by management.

·         If you have a substantial history of compliance (no findings) you can extend the audit frequency out to 18 months.

·         All areas of the organization are to be audited in a two year cycle with primary (and therefore critical) areas audited yearly.

·         If the internal audit plan is acceptable to Top Management then it should also pass muster with any auditor.

·         I think it should be performed in months when there's an "r" in the name of the month...

·         Internal audits should be performed between February 29th and Feb 30th.

·         You should audit everything once a year, no matter what.

·         Make it an ongoing program instead of this huge mountain of work you have to try to schedule.

·         For calibration and certificates on walls, perform these audits these annually and use checklists and closed questions.

·         Checklists are like kryptonite to internal audits. There is no place for them.

·         Give your auditors t-shirts emblazoned with “I am auditing the system, not the person”.

·         No internal audit should take longer than 60 minutes.

·         Write a non-conformance if a audit discussion goes on for more than 1 hour.

·         Only the internal auditor can be a best judge to isolate weaknesses of his own organization.

·         Auditing each process in your quality management system once per year demonstrates compliance.

·         Internal audit shall be performed minimum once a year not limited to the problematic process areas.