Calculating (3rd Party) Audit Days for Company with Seasonal Employees

[Stijloor]

I have a question for (ISO 9001:2015) CB representatives. An organization has 100 regular full-time Employees. Each year, from March until June, they have 200-600 additional temporary Employees. How is a CB expected to calculate the audit days?

Thank you for responding.

 

[Ajit Basrur]

The IAF MD 5: 2013, IAF Mandatory Document for Duration of QMS and EMS Audits, http://www.iaf.nu/upFiles/IAFMD52013QMSEMSAuditDurationPub.pdf, in section 2.3 on Effective Number of Personnel, states the below:

The effective number of personnel is used as a basis for the calculation of audit duration. Dependent upon the hours worked, part time personnel numbers may be reduced and converted to an equivalent number of full time personnel. Appropriate reduction should be made to the temporary unskilled personnel who may be employed in considerable numbers in some countries due to low level of technology and automation. Appropriate reduction of number of personnel also should be made where significant proportion of staff carry out a similar simple function for instance: transport, line work, assembly lines, etc.

 

[Stijloor]

Thank you so very much Ajit!

 

[Sidney Vianna]

The IAF MD 5: 2013, IAF Mandatory Document for Duration of QMS and EMS Audits, http://www.iaf.nu/upFiles/IAFMD52013QMSEMSAuditDurationPub.pdf,

Ajit, the hyperlinked document is outdated. The current one is available @ http://www.iaf.nu/upFiles/IAFMD5QMSEMSAuditDurationIssue311062015.pdf and became effective a few months ago.

Section 2.3.6 has more details about seasonal workforce/temporary employees. At the end of the day, it will be a "judgement call" of the CB and the document really does not give you authoritative guidance. How impacting is the temporary workforce in product conformity?

Chances are, no CB audits would be scheduled during the season when the temporary employees swell the organization numbers, for logistical reasons.