![Advisera John Nolan](https://advisera.com/wp-content/uploads/blog_authors/johnnolan.jpg)
November 22, 2017
Internal audits are a vital and mandatory part of any ISO 45001:2018-certified OHSMS (Operational Health and Safety Management System) – and for a good reason. An effective internal audit can identify whether the correct arrangements have been made for an OHSMS to meet the terms of the standard itself. It can also identify any process, resource or activity gap that exists, and allows corrective actions to be planned to address these non-conformities. This not only helps the OHSMS to meet the terms of the standard, but also increases the chance of maintaining employee well-being and safety. So, given that the internal audit function is so critical, what form should it take, where should responsibility lie, what content should be included, and what should be done with the information collected? In other words, how do you plan your internal audit program to be most effective?
The frequency and specific aims of your internal audit may well be planned by your top management team, possibly in one of the management review meetings. But if incidents or accidents occur during the interim period, then the specific targets of any internal audit may be subject to change if the organization and workforce are to see real benefit. Therefore, it is critical that the internal audit schedule is planned, and can be changed with stakeholder input. This will ensure not just conformance to the standard, but also identification of any non-conformities in the OHSMS. It will also ensure that non-conformities are addressed with adequate corrective actions. In the previous article How to perform internal audit in ISO 45001 we looked at how to perform the audit function itself, but what shape should the audit plan take?
There are several considerations an organization should make to ensure that the internal audit plan is as precise as possible. The output must be accurate, timely and useful in terms of panning activities to close any gaps and ensure that continual improvement is achievable. Let us consider them one element at a time:
As with any function in a management system, the effectiveness of planning has a great bearing on the outcomes of that function. Selecting the right people with the right skills and competencies, recording data accurately and concisely in a relevant fashion and ensuring the outputs are reviewed and improved are all critical. The relevance and accuracy of planning the whole audit cycle at the outset is also of great importance. If any of these elements is not up to scratch, there is a chance that gaps can go unnoticed and that compliance with the standard will not be achieved. More importantly, your workplace will be a less safe environment for your employees. While studying the principles of ISO 19011, “Guidelines for auditing management systems” may help your organization with this task. It is critical that you set your internal audit program out in an intelligent and controlled manner. Treat the construction of your internal audit plan as the most critical starting point, and the chances of success increase greatly for the rest of the internal audit process.
For a better understanding of ISO 190011, see the whitepaper: How to perform an internal audit using ISO 19011