SYSTEMS AUDITS

A systems audit is a disciplined approach to evaluate and improve the effectiveness of a system. Audits are carried out in order to verify that the individual elements within the system are effective and suitable in achieving the stated objectives

Kartik employ Certificating Body auditors who audit for UKAS (United Kingdom Accreditation Service) certification bodies and therefore can carry out a pre-audit prior to your own certification audit and identify any nonconformity in the system.

Of course, you do not have to wait for an external audit, you can have a system audit at any time to deal with issues or just to take stock of where you are.

System audit: An audit conducted on a management system. It can be described as a documented activity performed to verify, by examination and evaluation of objective evidence, that applicable elements of the system are appropriate and effective and have been developed, documented, and implemented in accordance and in conjunction with specified requirements.

Most often carried out before an external certification audit to identify areas of concern or used to identify areas of strengths and weaknesses in the management system.

It’s completely normal for companies to request a full system audit before the actual certification audit, so they can gauge exactly where they are in relation to achieving their certification and we deploy, Certificating Body auditors to do this (a little busman’s holiday for them). It gives companies, confidence that they are ready to go forward for certification, or it gives them a “heads’ up” on what still needs to be done before the external audit.

Of course, there are other reasons for carrying out systems audits, to establish the existing position, to draw up a plan going forward, to identify training needs, to identify system gaps, to explore company wide issues and many more.