Integrated Management System

Audits

What is that Integrated Management System – which is being instituted in this way to assure its consistency with standards: quality (PN-EN ISO 9001), environment (PN-EN ISO 14001) and safety and occupational hygiene (PN-N-18001)? Generally, an employee who is asked, lists various elements, which on the basis of association come to his mind – procedures, politics, audits ……….. but what is the system as the whole?

What is this?

Saying in the easiest way - the integrated management system of quality, environment and safety and occupational hygiene is the kit of tools which are each other connected and the aim of these is supporting and making easier the management of company. These tools are often procedures which are associated with the system but also for example: process attitude, identification and assessing environmental aspects or steering operating important dangers of safety work. It is obvious to speak about the system among these tools the net of mutual connections must exist. Moulding requirements of international standards in this way, which concern the management, unfortunately often causes a resistance to implement from the side of managers. What do you mean? Will we throw our current methods into the basket and accept something new? The current methods have functioned so far.

It is important to relate many tools required by norms which have already functioned (sometimes they require small corrects). The example is assurance of resources (it is budget planning) required by the norm or supervision of measured apparatus. Standards implement some tools which have not been known so far. One of the most important is inner audits which have special prominent meaning.

What do the audits consist in?

Audit – systematic, independent, substantiated process of gaining evidence from the audit and its objective mark in order to specify a degree of fulfilling criterions of audit (Polish Standard Norma PN-EN ISO 9000:2001 Systems of management of quality: The basics and terminology)

Audits are one of the last actions of the first stage of implementation
(the first stage – the way to certify, further there is the stage of improving which lasts al the time). Results gained by inner audits give the answer for question what was implemented and began working and what requires further corrections and improvements.

The year –long schedule of audits was prepared – it includes all the most important areas which will be audited. It was divided into identified processes with the organizational units which are anticipated to be audited. On the basis of the year –long schedule monthly schedules are prepared. These schedules includes details of the long-year schedule. These two types of schedules are published in the database: ISO Processes on the platform Lotus notes. Additionally, the monthly schedules will be also published in the magazine” Koncern”.

On the basis of schedule for given month the manager of the organizational unit knows if he is audited. There will not be the surprise in this situation but in accordance with the procedure the main auditor has an obligation of making appointment earlier and also giving the range of the audit not later than two working days before the planned audit. The fixed range of the audit does not include all detailed questions which may be asked by the auditors but this range indicates all more important problems which will be discussed. This preparation gives the person, who will be audited, the earlier possibility of preparing essential documents. The main auditor and the person who is being audited fix what employees should take part in the audit.

Audit is not the control

The aim of the audit is fundamentally checking achievements of its set criterions. The criterions of the audit are mainly:

• politics and accepted aims;
• procedures, management and instructions;
• exterior law requirements;
• other requirements, mainly requirements of fixed contracts;

Above mentioned criterions should be compared with the presenting evidences – registrations, statements of evidences or other information, essential from the point of view of criterions, which may be verified (results of conversations, documents, registrations from computing systems, results of measurements and others).

The audit of the given area will give an answer for following questions:

• Is there written description of actions in the given area?
• Is there not written but fixed way of action?
• Are these actions made according to what it was written or fixed in the different way?
• Are the set rules proper to the gain specific aims?

What will be later?

The result of the audit is mainly the report which includes all observations made during the audit and gained described evidences. The report includes affirmed inconsistencies but mainly calls affirmed action which is in accordance with the fixed requirements. On the basis of obtained and assessed evidences the auditor proposes to take corrective prospective and improving actions in this area.

The current actions indicate substantial similarities with the typical control actions, so why the result of the audit is fundamentally different from the results of control. In the case of affirming an appearance of inconsistency ( or potential inconsistency) the auditor describes it on the presented card of the corrective, prospective and improving actions.

Just the addresser of the card is obligated to make an analyse of inconsistencies, affirm the reasons of its appearance and he is also obligated to take the corrective actions in order to remove the results of incongruities (if he thinks this action is intentional) as well as corrective and prospective actions (so actions which do not enable the appearance of the given incongruity in the future).

The addresser also makes an appointment of finishing these actions and he even appoints a reliable person who is responsible for realizing them. The next difference in comparison with the control is fact that the addresser of the card of actions may not be the person who is being audited – this person may be also sent to others organizational units. Decisions in this range are made by proxy for integrated management system every time.

The detected inconsistency may not lead to changes in the action of people who are audited. It will also show the corrective or prospective actions will intend to change the current inner controls and even negotiate contracts again.

The planned, corrective or prospective actions may have various characters: they may be limited to introduce corrections for existing documents but they can also require the appearance of making investments and changes in the documents of planning ( in politics, aims, and even in strategy).

The result of the audit may be also a proposition of prospective actions. This situation takes place when auditors do not affirm inconsistencies but from the conversation with people who were audited result the possibility of further improvement of functioning the given area.

After planning the corrective, prospective and improving actions and filling in the card of actions – the card is returned to the department of Integrated Management System.

The worker of TSJ department introduces planned actions with the deadlines to database: :ISO Processes and Realization DKZ:. After finishing actions the person who is responsible, writes the report of realizing the task. In the case of lack of registration on time the computing system reminds of this fact automatically every day. The final end of the audit is checking the realization of the planned actions. It is being made in the form of additional audit .

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In connection with the starting audits I would like to ask for the great understanding with relation to auditors and thank you for understanding.

Grzegorz Klemens