Pre-Audit Tips for Employees - Preparing Employees to be Audited

Hello,
We have our annual compliance audit coming up in the next couple of weeks. I was wondering if there is any general information available that I could present to our employees ahead of time on the questions the ISO 9001:2000 auditor may ask? (other than what will be in his audit checklist) I have already consided making sure all are aware of our quality policy, objectives, manual, and QOP's but is there anything else?

Thanks

Hi,

Tips for employees.

1. Just answer the question. Do not elaborate unless the auditor asks for more info.

2. Answer honestly.

3. If you don't understand the question, say so.

4. Be polite.

5. If you are in the middle of a task, andit is importantthat you finish the task, ask the auditor if he can come back in 10 minutes.

6. Know where the documentation that applies to your job

7. Know and understand the quality policy

8. Know the objectives that apply to you and how you affect them.

Hope this helps.

Danny

Here's a guide I provided our people some time ago.

Preparing for surveillance audit

First of all, disseminate the audit plan as early as possible to all concerned to let them do minor tweaking e.g. filing loose records, tidying up the workplace, reviewing if documents on file are the latest, etc.

Tip: When an auditor is asking for a record or a document and that record or document is filed inside a ring binder or a folder or an envelope, dont give the whole ring binder or folder or envelope but rather the specific document only. Otherwise, you are presenting several can of worms on which the auditors can open.

Further tips

When asked a direct question answerable by yes or no, being unsure or taking too long to answer would lead the auditor to ask more question relating to that audit trail.

Prepare by understanding the process and reading through documented procedures or work instructions, if theyre available.

Prepare mentally, physically and emotionally before the audit.

Be able to tell the auditor a good place to have dinner.

Randy said:

Be able to tell the auditor a good place to have dinner.

Click to expand...

Says the guy who normally has lousy pizza in the hotel bar

Seriously,
the best plan of action is to be sure each employee knows his place and function in the "big picture." At a minimum, he should also be aware of what comes immediately before his function (his supplier) and after his function (his customer.) As part of that, he should know and be able to explain how he knows whether incoming product or service from his supplier is good to work on and add further value. He should be aware of what his finished product or service requirements are to allow his customer to use it effectively.

Excellent!!! Thank you everyone for your help.

Great ideas from everyone last year!

Well, it's that time of year again for us and I thought I would bump this post up to see if there are any other suggestions out there for preparing company employees for a surveillance audit.

Cheers!

Tips

Make sure everyone knows the schedule.

Tell people if they don't know the answer to a particular question off the top of their heads, that is ok. They should do their best. If they can refer the auditor to someone who probably does know the answer (team lead, supervisior, another department) or to a document that has the answer, do so.

The auditor doesn't know everything about your division of labor, so questions that cross into other persons areas are to be expected.