What is an ISO Audit and its types?
It's an activity that companies or businesses conduct to confirm,
evaluate & verify processes regarding the quality, safety, & quality of goods and
services so that companies are able to confirm the Management System has been
implemented. Following are the objectives of conducting an ISO Audit:
- To check the suitability of standards, procedures, regulations & conditions of
implementation in your company or organization;
- To fulfill all the customer requirements or market demands;
- To make sure consistency in the implementation of processes;
- To follow all the statutory & regulatory requirements;
- To look for areas for improvement & to develop key processes & working conditions in
your company or organization.
There are 3 different types of audits that you must know to
maintain your ISO Certification & check the effectiveness of your Company's operations &
processes.
1st-Party Audit: It's an audit carried out within your Company and it is also known as
internal audit. Your company must plant the internal audit programme & schedule its
implementation date. This audit is generally carried out as an evaluation of compliance
with ISO Standards like ISO 14001:2015, ISO 9001:2015, or ISO 45001 and other standards
as per Company's needs.
2nd Party Audit: It is also known as Supplier Audit and it is conducted by the
customer/purchaser on a supplier or company providing products/services to the
purchaser. In this instance, as long as your company have a purchasing process, a 2nd
party audit is generally inevitable for vital goods or services.
3rd Party Audit: It's also known as a Certification audit and this audit is always
carried out by the Auditors of a Certification Body. This aims to help your Company in
getting ISO Certification to the relevant ISO Standard by a certified Certification Body
and this body must be accredited by a certified accreditation body as well.