2. What is the purpose of an audit program?
In ISO 19011, an "audit program" is defined as a set of "arrangements for a set of one or more audits, planned for a specific duration and conducted for a specific purpose".
The audit program refers to the organization and resources required to carry out an audit assignment, which may involve several audits over varying periods of time. This may involve organizing internal audits for a single-site or multi-site company, over an annual or multi-year period. It may also involve the organization of supplier audits, or even inspire the organization of certification audits over a three-year period. More simply, an audit program may also be necessary for a single audit campaign that is of major importance to a company.
The main aspects taken into account in an audit program are shown in the following diagram.
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What is the purpose of an audit program?
How to carry out a professional audit?
Reference standards
ISO 19011 – Guidelines for auditing management systems – July 2018
ISO/IEC 17021-1:2015 – Conformity assessment – Requirements for bodies providing audit and certification of management systems — Part 1: Requirements – Reviewed and validated in 2020.
Glossary (source: ISO 19011 and ISO 9000)
Audit
A methodical, independent and documented process for obtaining objective evidence and evaluating it objectively to determine the extent to which audit criteria have been met.
Audit findings
Results of assessment of audit evidence collected, against audit criteria.
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