Internal Auditing Independence
Hello all, I recently took a new position as QA Manager at a company with a solid SQF Plan already in place. As part of familiarizing myself with the company protocols (and to check compliance against SQF Ed 9) I am conducting internal audits against the code. I know that I should be independent of the areas I am auditing, but at this point, I have been here a very brief time and I am basically a fresh set of eyes on our programs. My question is this - would I be able to consider my first 3 months as still being somewhat independent of my own areas? At this point, I am really auditing my predecessor's work (though I am responsible for any corrective actions.). I plan to audit my own areas regardless (just for my own knowledge/comfort level) but should I schedule a coworker outside of my department to re-audit "My" areas?
Nope
They would have to also have the internal auditing training as required by SQF, if you have an alternate, then maybe
But I personally don't think it's worth the trouble
Hi taraakoester, Internal audit is an important activity for performance evaluation. Your question is interesting, but it is recommended and as part of audit principles, it is important audit should be conducted by individual who is independent to the function. Also competent auditors should conduct the audit. Competency is acquired by training, experience.
I would recommend an individual who had underwent training to audit your areas. You can accompany the auditor if you want to get the knowledge.
However, ive seen or have knowledge of auditors of both sides of the spectrum. QFSM can audit everything vs QFSM can audit
nothing (they were aware of a corp resource). right or wrong you need to be able to demonstrate independence to an auditor. they
may or may not accept your current argument. sorry - that's probably not much help.
I applaud you for doing the audit yourself anyway. In my opinion, it is the greatest tool you have to achieve compliance to a
standard.