Attendance of an Audit - Key Employees will be Absent

J

Jshene

#1
My company has a sceduled certification audit coming soon and I just found out that two major people in my company might not be there for the audit... What happens in this situation? Also, we are a company of 15 people. Any thoughts?:thanx:
 
Elsmar Forum Sponsor
#2
You can call and bring up/push out an audit, if you feel it's important these people be there. Sometimes the auditor understands schedules conflict isn't a lack of commitment. They may be OK with a reschedule, maybe with a different auditor than you're used to.
 

somashekar

Staff member
Super Moderator
#3
2/15 strong not in audit, and being major people seems tough. However if your line up is such that your business can effectively move on, then the audit can also move on. Perhaps there are a few next line managers who can show confidence and take this as an opportunity to manage audit process. Where necessary the two key people can also be available on the phone to assist. This should not change a scheduled certification audit, however as said by AndyN, you can approach your CB for a schedule change, but please do sufficiently in advance. It can happen that your next schedule that is available will not be round the corner and this may effect your business requirements.
 
J

Jshene

#4
Our Audit is next week... I am just concerned because we are so small that it will affect the outcome. My boss seems to think that audits are business as usual and if people can not be there then its fine. So rescheduling as of now is not an option.

Thanks for your responses,

Jshene :frust:
 

Jen Kirley

Quality and Auditing Expert
Staff member
Admin
#5
If up against a deadline I would consider performing the audit based on what and who was available. If that can't be done because there is only one person who really understands it or has sole access to key resources or inputs, I would consider the question of resourcing: what has the organization done to ensure important activities can still be performed if this one person disappears? We are all mortals, after all.

There is another consideration: what kind of audit is scheduled soon? Does your procedure allow for rescheduling? If it's a Stage 1 or Stage 2 audit, then yes all audits must be completed to proceed; but when I audit for surveillance or re-certification and not all audits are finished, it's not an automatic disqualifier. I would refer to the procedure. When running an internal audit program my procedure allowed two quarters of scheduling flexibility.
 

somashekar

Staff member
Super Moderator
#6
Our Audit is next week... I am just concerned because we are so small that it will affect the outcome. My boss seems to think that audits are business as usual and if people can not be there then its fine. So rescheduling as of now is not an option.

Thanks for your responses,

Jshene :frust:
Jshene.
Its pretty straight forward.
Those two are shy of audit and it is in your best interest they are away for whatever reason.
Go through the audit proceedings and as long as your QMS establishment is satisfactory across all requirements, there is nothing to worry. Remember that processes are important and not people, though at times processes are people dependent. If you still get a couple of NC's take it with a smile and address them. (In case you need support, the Cove is always available)
From what I read from you, when your business can go on as usual in the absense of those two key personnel, your audit can go on as well, and much better.
This is a great opportunity to rise your level ... Good luck ~~~
 

Mikishots

Trusted Information Resource
#9
Our Audit is next week... I am just concerned because we are so small that it will affect the outcome. My boss seems to think that audits are business as usual and if people can not be there then its fine. So rescheduling as of now is not an option.

Thanks for your responses,

Jshene :frust:
It would be an issue if your QMS is people-dependent rather than process-dependent. Unless those two people have information that no-one else could possibly know (which could be in itself an issue), it should be fine.
 

Sidney Vianna

Post Responsibly
Staff member
Admin
#10
It would be an issue if your QMS is people-dependent rather than process-dependent.
Excellent advice, but let's not forget that, in smaller organizations (such as the organization in question), many times, the process(es) is (are) specific-person dependent. Especially, when we are dealing with family owned business and some processes (e.g.) such as purchasing are only performed by family members.
 
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