An auditor is a person. Really! Their job is to validate documentation. This means they look at documentation (instructions) and make sure people are following the documentation.
Auditors go from company to company validating documentation and asking people about their documentation.
Auditors are just people who ask questions about how you do your job.
Auditors ask people questions about how they do their job.
NOT an Auditor!
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Notes:
This really addresses outside auditors, or fears thereof, more than internal audits. I include this slide for those of you who are preparing folks for their first external audit. Many people have a real fear of auditors. Even some who have experienced many audits. For some people it s like taking a test. As we all know, there are some good test takers, and some bad test takers. Ensure that everyone is as relaxed as possible.
At one larger client, during the registration audit, 2 people became so upset whilst being interviewed that they broke down and had to be taken to the local hospital. No kidding. And it wasn t an evil auditor. They were just very scared people. I try to tell folks to remember that they do their jobs every day and since the3 auditor can only ask questions about what they do, and not what others do, it s an easy test. Heck, they do the same stuff every day for the most part.
This is, of course, easy to tell someone. That doesn t mean they ll take it to heart, but it may help alleviate some apprehension.
ISO 19011 - Quality and Environmental Management Systems Auditing Forum Discussions
