ABSTRACT
Although ISO 19011 (Guidelines for quality and for environmental management systems auditing) is written primarily for environmental systems audits, it has some useful general advice on how to plan audit programs. In particular it identifies five principles of auditing:
1. Ethical conduct 2. Fairness 3. Professional 4. Independence 5. Evidence based
These principles can readily be applied to what makes a good auditor. To behave ethically, the auditor must be trusted, and must have integrity and discretion. It is not the auditor’s job to go and “tell tales” about the audit findings to anyone who will listen. The auditor must be fair and ensure that he or she reports the audit in a truthful way that accurately represents the facts as they were discovered. It is essential that the auditor appears to be professional and that he or she is competent to carry out the audit, diligent, careful, and has the ability and experience to be able to apply judgment. This last point is crucial in the auditor’s credibility as a mindless application of “rules” will not endear the auditor to the auditees. It is also important that the auditor has some level of independence, and has no conflict of interest. An audit carried out by the local safety manager may not be independent if his or her annual bonus depends on the outcome of the audit score. Finally, the audit must be based on evidence that is verifiable and will stand up to challenge.
