Thank you for the post Marc.
I would like to bring the (quality) audit world into the late 20th century.
What folks in the quality world (and they tend to be in the hardware world) don't seem to grasp is that the world has become globally electronic. Some businesses have no sites; not that they have teleworkers, they have no sites. Yes, people work somewhere - at home, in the car, at the airport - and yes there is a comp-any address- usually a lawyer or accountant office - but there is not a
site. Even the earthbound hardware folks have a lot of electronic stuff. So there are huge opportunities for remote auditing.
Before anyone lets rip - I am
not suggesting that all audits can or should be remote. I don't think that will happen in my lifetime. However remote auditing is a method that auditors ignore at their peril. It offers so much - greater width of sampling, faster sampling, sampling where the auditor cannot (or would not) go; think tsunami, earthquake, SARS. It minimises transportation costs and associated auditor dead-time. Yes, it needs careful planning and yes - it can go wrong, but why not consider it?
So, what about remote auditing? Well, the first thing is what is remote? I would contend that it is 'not in the physical presence of the auditee(s)'; that is the auditee can't be seen/heard sufficiently to obtain objective audit evidence. That can even mean calling the person in the next office on the phone to answer a question. Or it could be having a teleconference with the cosmonauts on the space station. I would like to done the latter
.
The second thing is what technology can you use for remote auditing? Well just about anything. How about - whatever you use in business. When the topic of ICT arises, usually it is about the reasons why it can't be done. What about security, records, access, privacy, technology failure? These are all problems that auditors had in 1960 - only the technology has changed. What technology did we use in 1960 - trains, planes and automobiles. Today if an Icelandic volcano erupts, Europe stops - period.
The next thing is what can't be audited remotely? Well I can't touch, smell or taste remotely - everything else is up for grabs. I can remotely audit food preparation - using a webcam to ask an auditee to use a food temperature probe to ensure correct cooking/storage. What I can't tell is if the meat is rancid - that requires taste/smell.
What about the social side of things? Isn't it impersonal or even unprofessional (I've had that one a lot) to not be in the same room as the auditee(s)? No, that's how we do business every day. However, as in business, it is always best (if practical/economic) to meet face-to-face. I would recommend that a remote audit is never the first audit - always visit first.
If this has stirred some thoughts then please share them.
If anyone is interested I can share experiences and techniques.
P.S. Been doing this for years internally and yes, accredited acceptance of registrar usage too.