The ISO Checklist For Internal Audit

A checklist for internal audit of ISO standards can be an invaluable asset in helping your company prepare for an ISO audit. It will enable you to identify areas that require improvement, and motivate employees towards implementing solutions.

An internal audit is a first-party evaluation usually conducted by the company itself and designed to determine compliance with standards such as ISO 9001 as well as customer and regulatory requirements.

Process audits
Process audits provide your business with an opportunity to gain an in-depth understanding of its processes’ effectiveness, by reviewing documented evidence in your ISMS system and comparing it to ISO standards. Such evaluations are essential to its long-term success and could save resources over time.

An audit plan must include both schedule and objectives of an audit. It is vital that employees not involved with creating, implementing or operating ISMS daily be on the audit team in order to guarantee impartial and unbiased auditing results.

Document analysis is the second phase of a process audit and allows auditors to verify whether documented processes align with ISO 9001 requirements as well as identify areas for improvement. Visual representations like charts and graphs may aid communication of audit findings.

Documentation audits
This portion of the ISO 27001 internal audit checklist involves reviewing your information security management system’s documented processes, such as quality manuals, procedures, work instructions and records. Auditors assess these documents’ adequacy, accuracy and relevance to your organisation’s ISO 9001 processes.

Document auditing is an integral step in the ISO certification process and must be successfully completed for your company to receive ISO 9001 certification. In order to ensure its success, steps should be taken such as setting an audit scope and identifying areas of business needing evaluation.

Additionally, you should make a list of documents to be reviewed and ensure they are accessible. Finally, inform all departments of an impending audit so they can prepare records and documentation ahead of time; this will reduce negative responses while speeding up the auditing process and helping prevent repeat problems.

Non-conformity audits
Assuring successful non-conformity audits requires taking all appropriate steps. This may involve assigning responsibilities, setting timelines, and introducing monitoring mechanisms. Furthermore, you should create a corrective action plan which includes both what constitutes non-conformities as well as steps being taken to correct them.

A nonconformity statement should be written using objective evidence that points towards specific requirements, without providing opinions regarding its cause or impact on an organisation. Furthermore, it must be clear and concise so as not to miss important pieces of information.

Assigning someone to investigate nonconformities should be easy and without assigning blame or offering solutions; this will provide them with all of the information needed to begin investigating and correcting it – and can prevent repeat incidents from arising again in future.

Corrective action audits
Corrective action audits are an integral component of ISO 9001 certification. They ensure that products and services produced meet customer and regulatory authority quality requirements while simultaneously helping identify areas in need of improvement.

When conducting a corrective action audit, all pertinent documents should be at hand. This includes an ISO 9001 Audit Checklist, non-conformity report and corrective action plan. The latter should contain an action list with their completion time frame as well as who is accountable for each of them and any immediate corrections needed.

Risk analysis should also be part of your process; you can do this by comparing actions with an internal-developed risk matrix and then selecting the most effective action to address a particular problem. You may even decide that some corrective actions are not required, in which case this decision must be made prior to closing out your finding.