In 2012, I gave a presentation at the ENFORM 2012 Safety 360 Conference in Canada.
My presentation was on Evidence-Based Auditing. In particular, I focused on how the ISO 19011 standard can be used to develop a three-step approach for conducting evidence-based audits.
In my presentation I focused on the following topics –
- What is audit evidence and why is it different
- The three main reasons organizations establish audit programs
- The 4 Rs that should be addressed to get more value from an audit program
- Why ISO 19011 is important for developing an EHSMS audit program
- The three steps for performing an evidence-based audit
Later in the day, several of the attendees joined me for an informal discussion of the topics I had covered in my formal presentation.
During this breakout session, we spent a lot of time discussing how to get value from EHS management system audits. In particular, we discussed the important differences between inspections and audits. Inspections are an important part of an organization’s measuring and monitoring processes. Audits are independent evaluations of the strength of an organization’s internal controls (the management system processes that have been established to manage EHS risks).