M
Can someone provide a good interpretation of the independence rule for internal auditing in the ISO-9001:2000 system? I realize the previous revision of ISO-9001 required that an auditor could not audit an area they were "responsible" for. The new standard says an auditor cannot audit their own "work". My understanding for this verbage change was to allow QA folks to audit QA systems/processes. As a Quality Manager, am I allowed to audit any system/process within my department even though I do not personally do the assigned "work"?

Personally, I won't audit a process that I have any involvement in so their can be no question as to my objectivity.