Audit is Not a Four-Letter Word

To many, “audit” is a four-letter word. Audits performed by the “head office” or other subject matter experts external to the facility may not be seen as helpful, but as a disruption to the business and a source of additional work. Rather than adding value by identifying opportunities for the business to improve performance, external audits can focus too much on meeting a regulatory compliance requirement and “ticking a box.” Additionally, external auditors may not fully understand the facility operation and place too much emphasis on prescriptive requirements.

Background

My personal experience having been on both sides of the audit is as follows:

• When you are on the facility side, the audit is added work that may displace in-flight activities that have more benefits for the facility.
• When on the audit side, findings and opportunities are considered by the audit team as the most important items for the facility to address. Any other initiatives can wait – “the audit team has found some unmitigated risk!”
• There can be a feeling as an auditor that you must identify an opportunity or issue in your area – what if you conclude that all is well, and then an incident occurs sometime after the audit is complete – why didn’t you identify that issue during the audit? This may bias your interpretation of the risk.
• Facility (and especially facility management) may push back hard on audit findings to avoid criticism from their superiors - what kind of operation are you running?

In general, the audit can create an adversarial relationship between the audit team and the facility.

This article will explore how audits and assessments can be used to improve performance and help ensure consistency with the business objectives. Business unit-led assessments are used to identify and address mechanical integrity program opportunities. The assessment results are used to inform external audits and can add input in the form of industry best practices to help address known opportunities and provide a cold-eyed review to help identify any blind spots.