How to Conduct Internal Audit as per ISO 9001:2015 Quality Management System?

Introduction: 

Audit is a procedure or series of procedures used to assess an organization's management system, correct problems, and allow the system to continue operating in accordance with ISO standards. Numerous organizations have established the standards and have their own internal management systems that refer to or follow the ISO.

There are three types of Audits;

1. Internal Audits

2. External/Outside Audits

3. Independent/3rd Party Audits

1. Internal Auditing:

Internal audits, also known as first party audits, are carried out by lead auditors for certified ISO 9001 QMS. Internal auditors made sure that the organisation followed the prescribed processes. Internal auditors may be employees of the same company, but they take on the role of consultants during audits, focusing solely on whether the ISO is being complied with by the organization's processes, policies, rules, and standards. For the purpose of improving the process and ensuring that the ISO standard is followed, internal auditors identify any problematic areas and points.

2. External/Outside Audits:

External audits, also known as 2nd party audits, are carried out by external auditing companies to evaluate and assess the success of ISO implementation.

3. Independent/3rd Party Audits:

A third-party audit happens when a business decides to develop a quality management system (QMS) that complies with a set of requirements, such as ISO9001, and engages an impartial auditing firm to carry out an audit to confirm that the business has been successful in meeting these requirements. These independent organizations are typically referred to as certification bodies, and they are in the business of performing audits to check and verify that the QMS complies with all the specifications of the selected standard and does so consistently. Companies that they determine have met the criterion are subsequently given certification. In this process, three audit kinds are employed: certification audits, maintenance audits, and surveillance audits.