Industry: All Industries

Keywords: Internal Audits, ISO 9001, Checklists

Level: All Levels

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lorri-hunt-7b98373/

As organizations have experienced fluctuating workloads and different work environments as a result of the changing world, resources to conduct audits are not always readily available. This might be due to a simple manpower issue or to the resource being assigned to complete other tasks.

When internal audits are conducted, time and resource constraints are evident. Symptoms of an internal audit program that might need improvement include:

• No nonconformities or other types of findings
• Audits appear to be a desktop audit only where no one is interviewed or only a review of documented procedures occurs
• Familiarity with audited areas limits the sample size because it seems everything is going to procedure 
• Internal auditors do not understand ISO 9001 and how to audit to the standard
• Yes / No checklists are used without including documented information on what evidence was reviewed 

Internal audits can also be improved by auditing using the process approach. While this is not a requirement of ISO 9001, it can result in significant benefits to the organization. The presentation will also review, as audits are conducted, how the sample of what is reviewed can provide confidence that audits are identifying important issues. This workshop is designed to help attendees understand and audit to the ISO 9001 standard.

The presentation will include how to conduct process audits versus auditing to specific clauses and a review of the ISO 9001 requirements in a style that can help an organization conduct effective process audits. This session will help you ensure you get the value of your internal audit program and make improvements that will help sustain your organization.

Lorri Hunt

President, Lorri Hunt & Associates, Inc., Kansas City, MO, USA

Lorri Hunt has been implementing and auditing quality management systems to ISO 9001 in diverse organizations since 1994. She is an active member of the U. S. Technical Advisory Group to ISO Technical Committee 176 (ISO TC176). She served as an expert from ISO TC176/SC2 to participate on revision of Annex SL, the source document that provides the high-level structure that includes identical text and definitions from the ISO Directives.

Lorri was recently appointed to the leadership team to the next revision to ISO 9001. She was a co-convener for ISO 9001:2015, TS9002, and The Small and Medium Enterprise Handbook for Implementing ISO 9001:2015. She also served as the International Deputy Task Group Leader for the ISO 9001:2008 amendment and as the convener for ISO 10007 Configuration Management. As the head of delegation for ISO TC176/SC2 from 2009-2018, she was responsible for overseeing the development of consensus positions for the United States related to ISO 9001 and ISO 9004.

She was also a member of US TAG to PC 302 Guidelines for Auditing Management Systems. Lorri is most often recognized for using her extensive experience in standards development and auditing to assist organizations in implementing ISO 9001 using a common-sense approach. She is the president of Lorri Hunt & Associates Inc.

Lorri frequently contributes to quality publications and journals and is a co-author to The ISO 9001:2015 Handbook – A Practical Guide to Implementation. She is a frequent speaker at conferences all over the world and an Exemplar Global certified lead auditor.