Internal Auditing in Plain English: A Simple Guide to Super Effective ISO Audits

by Craig Cochran

A successful internal audit program is essential to the success of any management system. A successful internal audit program also requires successful auditors. Auditing isn’t taught in school and doesn’t always come easily to those just starting out. Fortunately, bestselling author Craig Cochran has distilled down the essential elements of a successful internal audit program into plain English that anyone can understand. Just as he did with his bestselling ISO 9001:2015 in Plain English book, Cochran has written a comprehensive yet easily understandable guide to internal auditing. Internal Auditing in Plain English was written so that anyone at any level of the organization can understand the basics of a successful internal auditing process. Plus, the book goes beyond the basics with comprehensive detail about establishing an internal audit program, selecting and training auditors, auditing requirements, interview techniques, planning audits, reporting, audit follow ups, and much more. This straightforward book is ideal for people who are new to internal auditing, experienced auditors who want to get more out of their audits, and for employees who just need a basic understanding of what internal auditing is and how it applies to them. Cochran uses real-world examples and frequently asked questions to help build a comprehensive understanding of a successful internal audit program and to build the skills of successful internal auditors.

Genres: Business

200 pages, Kindle Edition

Published July 10, 2017

Reviews

[Jonathan Leo · Rating 4 out of 5]

having no experience in auditing, this was an interesting book to pick up. the author uses lucid examples to illustrate his points. i found audit seemingly described to be an extension of human negotiation, where auditees should feel safe through measures such as beginning with an open question about the process, placing the ball in their court, then asking them how they will manage nonconformities/ checking the robustness of the process, and never placing the root cause of the nonconformity on the person but the process. auditors should also be looking for conformities and not NCs, audit against requirements not opinions, look for potential best practices and new ways to do things, include objective, traceable and primary evidence that a NC was committed, and note their methods and sampling plan of audit (much like a systematic review that facilitates retraceability of findings).
opening and closing meetings should establish trust, scope, objectives, methods, schedule, findings, capa plan. auditors should not give solutions but encourage auditees to think of solutions specific to their organisation. auditees should not rush into resolving capa but study underlying process weaknesses to build robustness.
some essential questions to consider are:
1. can you walk me through your processes and what it requires?
2. what do you need to start your work?
3. how do you contribute to objectives? (recorded? measurable? progress made? established at relevant functions?)
4. what if product nonconforming?
5. how to access product requirements?
6. how do you correct problems? (are root processes addressed? are changes implemented? procedures revised and implemented? people trained? outcomes improved? monitoring established? problem reoccurred? management aware of capa?)
7. how is customer feedback used?
8. how are customer complaints handled? (how complaints received? what actions taken? analysis of trends?)
9. how does top management review performance? (frequency, participants, requirements, results of review, changes?)
10. evidence of continual improvement?
11. how training carried out?
12. what's the most important thing of your job?
13. what can you tell me about your organisation context? (SWOT analysis)
14. who stakeholders and their requirements?
15. what risks and opportunities have been identified?
16. what plans in place to achieve quality objectives?
17. how qms integrated into business practices?
18. how is change managed?
19. how is knowledge captured and used? (documentation, review, capa?)
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