We've had a few discussions here on the cove about this. There is an article in the latest edition of Quality World - here (http://www.thecqi.org/Knowledge-Hub/Qualityworld/Current-issue/Upholding-the-law/Upholding-the-law/).

Good article, Paul. One thing that really caught my attention:
Internal audits may be used to check compliance with procedures and that the organisation meets legal requirements. This is one way that organisations working to ISO 14001 or OHSAS 18001 satisfy the requirement for “evaluation of compliance”.In my experience, most internal audit resources are not fully competent to perform "simple" conformance audits, much less regulatory compliance assessments.

Is your experience positive with management system internal auditors verifying legal compliance?

... Is your experience positive with management system internal auditors verifying legal compliance?

Pretty much. Obviously the more complex the legal requirements the higher the level of technical knowledge the auditor needs.

Just as one example ... here in the UK we have to keep a record of all waste going off site to show it has been dealt with properly. It is a simple task to check that there are records for each pick up and that these records identify the correct information and are kept for 3 years.

Now the more complex stuff needs better technical knowledge but most auditors I know can do it! :agree1: