Re: ISO 19011 revision
Hi all. Freshly arrived in Cairo for the TC 207 meeting. There is a joint working group on ISO 19011 revision - as ever any thoughts gratefully received.
Tough gig, Paul!
There should be a much bigger differentiation of audit process between the 'formality' of external audits and that of internal audits. Everything is painted with the same brush, yet it's clear to me that because we have a 'one size fits all' and most training tends to emulate the external process (on which the earliest lead auditor courses were based) there needs to be a fundamental shift towards internal auditors behaving more like 6 Sigma Green Belts, than CB auditors!
Indeed, if I had my way, the whole internal audit process would be based more on the SS model, but I know that's pushing the envelope too much!
There should also be a definition of a clear role of an 'audit manager' and what should be considered in scheduling internal audits. Clearly, people have little idea what 'status and importance' mean in any practical sense and, as a result 'get away with' scheduling one or two a year to emulate the CB's audits - crazy......
Furthermore, (if I may) internal auditors need to be versed not just in 'ISO' - as they often are, but modern CI techniques like Lean and SS. Too many are oblivious of issues that if they had the 'eyes' to see, they'd have recorded 'ineffectiveness' NC's rather than 'following procedures' reports!.
One last thing - align the whole 'independence' thing. 19011 says one thing, ISO 9001 says something else! Let's have some consistency guys!
Any more?
Thanks and good luck with the committee!