Internal auditing – 24/02/10

Internal auditing or first party audit is an essential part of any company's operation. It is a fundamental clause in BRC Standard for Food Safety Issue 5 and is also a key requirement in most audit protocols including IFS as well as in animal feed and non food standards.  For details of RQA Europe's internal auditor training, please click here.

 The key requirements of internal auditing are:

1. A proper schedule of audits that covers all aspects of the company's operations especially related to product safety and quality management. This should be risk assessed so that the frequency of auditing reflects the risk of a particular aspect of the company's systems

2. Appropriately trained and independent auditors.

3. A balanced internal audit report stating compliance as well as non compliance.

4. Reporting structure for non compliances to be reported to the responsible person.

5. A system of ensuring corrective action is taken with timescales and verification of the effectiveness of the corrective action.

6. Suitably constructed and verified records.

Internal auditing is quite often regarded as of secondary importance in a number of companies i.e. something that has to be done to comply with requirements. "I cannot see why we should do it - we all strive to comply with standards anyway as part of our day to day operation." This is often quoted at a 3rd party audit especially if the internal audit system is found to be lacking.

Internal auditing properly conducted is so much more than just compliance, it is an opportunity for the company to improve its systems and understand fully what is actually happening in the operational environment. It is a means of ensuring continuous improvement using personnel that fully understand the operational process.

For large companies and groups quite often specific auditors are appointed that are totally independent of any site that operate the internal audit system on a continuous basis. These people are generally highly trained and experienced and can bring an independent perspective to a sites operation.

How do small to medium size companies and individual sites comply with the requirements? For them it is a matter of cost, resource and independence. Also the site wants to get the maximum benefit from internal auditing to gain continuous improvement. The answer is to train up internal auditors from the site's personnel.  In some ways this system gives more benefits than the outside auditor approach. The personnel know the site, its operations, its personnel and its products intimately.  As such the audits generally are as much focused on the practicalities of the operation as they are on compliance and non compliance. If properly trained and motivated then the opportunity to improve the operation of the company will be forthcoming.  It is perhaps one of the ways that an individual can really make a difference at a site.

In RQA's experience internal auditing skills can be found in surprising places. In one particular company a buyer's assistant was put forward for internal auditor training.  She had little relevant operational experience but knew the site and especially its raw materials well.  At the end of the training, during a practical exercise, she showed herself to be a very competent auditor with particular skills of interpreting records and picking up even obscure discrepancies within the records.  When asked her background, her last job was in the offices of the Inland Revenue!

We have found that most (although not all) people have an auditor inside them that can be utilised by the site to improve its standards and to ensure compliance with its systems; however the correct training is critical in achieving this.  Contact RQA for details of our Internal Auditor Training