Procedure for unannounced audits
Does anyone have a procedure they are will to share for unannounced audits? We are implanting SQF and I need a procedure that I can use to communicate to staff so we are prepared with the unannounced audit starts. Thanks!
We don't have anything written down but this is what we do.
The receptionist checks the person's ID and gets them completing the health questionnaire then calls one of the Technical Management. That person then sends out a mail (we have an email group for audits) to let everyone know the auditor is on site, they then tell the QA team who scatter across site to all production areas to check for "sillies". That manager then picks up the HACCP plan and then goes to pick up the auditor and takes them to a free meeting room. Once in that room they find out the auditor's shoe size then calls from that room (there's no point hiding it) to the first operations person on the tour ostensibly just to tell them the shoe size but it's a second chance to make sure that person knows the auditor is on site in case they've not seen the mail. We also get any nutritional requirements in that opening meeting so we can make sure the lunch we're arranging in the background is to their liking.
One thing we need to get better at but it normally happens is we have a "background" person who makes sure the trace is done etc. They will normally start bringing files to the audit meeting room which are likely to be needed later, e.g. pest control, calibration, internal audits, TACCP etc. That means if the auditor comes back later and there's a lull in proceedings, they can start going through some other stuff. We also make sure we bring EVERYTHING when there's a trace, e.g. associated GMP audits, glass audits, specification, ingredients approval etc etc. Normally it then means we can cover off most of the audit requirements without then scrabbling around for bits of paper.
My key piece of advice with all audits, not just unannounced is keep the pace going, keep moving, keep having stuff ready. It makes you look professional, it makes the audit go more smoothly, there are no awkward silences and it normally makes the audit go more quickly. The best way to do this (apart from the tips above) is to ask the auditor regularly of a list of what they want to look at next. This means that you can get that ready for them while they're going through other things.
THEY DO JUST WALK IN . . .
We just had this two weeks ago. We used an email blast to all salary.
REMEMBER: Don't forget to do the same thing you do everyday. An operator who jumped into action and was checking things, left the lid off two containers they had been working out of at the.time. In the effort to help out, they forgot a 101 item . . . .
It was very amusing watching people try to correct issues on a just in time basis with an unannouced audit.
Auditors know when a facility attempts a pony show.
As an Auditor when people asked me what I was going to look at next I'd chuckle and tell them that we'll both know at the same time.
It was very amusing watching people try to correct issues on a just in time basis with an unannouced audit.
Auditors know when a facility attempts a pony show.
How to be an irritating auditor. I never ask it to fudge paperwork in advance, I ask it to keep the pace going. If you want audits to last longer and have less time to look at the paperwork then crack on. Of course there is an obvious list in any case so when we encounter auditors like yourself we just get ready anyway. There is no need to be adversarial nor assume the worst in people.
No one ever considered me an iritant or an "it."
I really enjoyed auditing and many of the companies I did audits at became clients of ours when I stopped auditing and switched hats to consulting because there was one thing I always wished I could have done as an Auditor and that was to discuss how to correct things instead of pointing out what was wrong.
Now as a food production facility owner I look forward to our first SQF audit next year.