ISO 19011 - Section 5
Explanations in Plain English
ISO 19011 - Section 5 - Audit Activities Stages 1 and 2 of
7
This is step 5 of 11 in the requirements set out in ISO 19011. If you've been
working your way through each step/page of the guideline, congratulations, you're almost half-way done.
Step 5 in section 5 of ISO 19011 covers the methods needed to conduct the physical
audit from start to finish. If you haven't reviewed the previous four steps, I recommend you do that now before
proceeding through this step. Click on the links at the bottom of the page for sections 1 - 4.
It's important to understand the proper sequence of events for developing and
implementing an internal audit process. It's also important to have a clear understanding of the definitions of the
terms used. One of the most common problems found by certification auditors is an incomplete or inadequately
designed and implemented internal audit program.
When the internal audit program is lacking proper structure and implementation,
the audits usually lack any meaningful results. When a company has a good internal audit program and competent
auditors there should not be any unknown outcomes from the certification or surveillance audits.
I'm not saying that you and the certification auditors will always agree as to
whether an issue or condition is okay or not. However, the issue or condition itself must never be a surprise. If
the certification auditors find something that takes you by complete surprise, the internal audit program needs to
be improved.
Okay, here is the breakdown of step 5:
The audit activities usually consist of seven stages:
1) Initiating the audit
2) Conducting the document review
3) Preparing for the on-site audit
4) Conducting the on-site audit
5) Preparing, approving and distributing the audit report
6) Completing the audit
7) Conducting audit follow-up
Stages 1 and 2 are discussed here. Stages 3 through 7 are discussed on these
pages:
Stage 1 - Initiating the audit consists of the following
activities:
a) Appointing the audit leader
b) Defining audit scope, objectives and criteria
c) Determining the feasibility of the audit
d) Selecting the audit team members
e) Contacting the auditee
Stage 2 - Conducting the document review:
The majority of an auditor's time is used to review the documentation that applies
to the process or processes to be audit. The auditor must have a thorough understanding of what are the process'
inputs, actions, outputs and measurements.
An effective and competent auditor will not start the audit until the process
documentation and records have been reviewed and any discrepancies explained or corrected. The document review
should provide evidence that the process(es) have been effectively planned and methods of controlling and
maintaining them are place.
The process documents/records should also show what monitoring and measuring
methods are used to determine if the process(es) are effective at reaching their objectives/goals.
The links below are
excerpts from the our e-book
"Explanations and
Definitions for ISO 19011:2002" 
Section 1. ISO 19011 Scope
reference and definitions
Section 2. ISO 19011 Principles of
auditing
Section 3. ISO 19011 Managing an
audit program
Section 4. ISO 19011 Audit program
implementation
Section 5. ISO 19011 Audit
activities
Section 6. ISO 19011 Preparing for
onsite activities
Section 7. ISO 19011 Conducting
onsite activities
Section 8. ISO 19011 What the
auditor is looking for
Section 9 ISO 19011 Audit
reporting
Section 10. ISO 19011 Audit
techniques
Section 11. ISO 19011 Audit
path
Section 12. ISO 19011 Effective
communications
Section 13. ISO 19011
Sampling
Section 14. ISO 19011 Audit
completion and follow-up
Section 15. ISO 19011 Competence
and evaluation of auditors
This represents a summary of the section in ISO 19011:2002. It's
suggested that you obtain a copy of our ebook to refer to when auditing.
EBook "Explanations and Definitions for ISO 19011:2002
What are Quality Management
Systems?
What is ISO 9000?
What is ISO 9001?
What is ISO 9004?
What is ISO 19011?
ISO 9001-2008 Changes
Online ISO
9000/9001 Overview Course
Auditor Training: Online
Auditor Training
Courseware
Additional Information Resources
| 
