Understanding Section 9.2
Internal audit
This is an educational article on Section 9.2 of ISO 9001, entitled “Internal audit”.
The purpose of this article is to give you an understanding of what Section 9.2 requires.
This article is directed towards:
- Those responsible for compliance to section 9.2.
- Those responsible for conducting internal audits.
- Others interested in understanding section 9.2.
Section 9.2 is entitled “Internal audit” and it requires you to conduct regular internal audits to determine the following:
- Conformity to your own internal requirements
- Conformity to ISO 9001 requirements
- Whether your QMS is effectively implemented and maintained
Internal auditing is a systematic, disciplined approach to evaluate and improve the effectiveness of your management system.
Internal auditing can be a catalyst for improving an organization’s governance, compliance, and management controls by providing insight, through objective and impartial analysis.
You are required to by section 9.2 to:
- Establish an audit program
- Define the scope for each audit
- Identify audit criteria
- Select competent and objective auditors
- Report results of the audit to management
- Immediately take corrective action on nonconformities
- Retain records of audit implementation and results
When creating the audit program, define the following;
- Frequency of audits
- Methods to be used
- Responsibilities
- Auditor requirements
- Planning requirements
- Reporting requirements
- Corrective action requirements
For your information, ISO has published a standard -– ISO 19011 – Guidelines for auditing management systems – this guidelines goes into detail about how to implement and maintain an internal audit system.
Also, the Evata Consulting Group provides:
Internal auditor training for your in-house internal auditor(s), and Evata can also provide an auditor to conduct the internal audit on your behalf, particularly if you are having an issue finding an in-house auditor who can be objective, such as if you are a small business with only a handful of employees, each of which is involved in almost all aspects of your business.
Since one of the purposes of an internal audit is to prepare for your certification audit, the neutral, unbiased perspective will be particularly important. The certification auditor will be coming in with his own set of opinions and biases that have not been shaped by involvement with your company. Thus, the more unbiased the internal auditor, the better preparation that will be for the certification audit.
For more information, watch our implementation videos for section 9.2. Also you may review our template library for a variety of procedures for conducting internal audits.