I am yet to be convinced that remote ISO audits are equally valuable as site visits.

Today I would rather defer the audit rather than proceed with the videoconference unless it was critical to the business continuity. I want to get the most from the audit – learn about best practices, understand deficiencies and be challenged by an unbiased observer.

Here are 5 challenges of remote auditing

1. Auditors competence – the majority of auditors have no or limited experience in remote auditing. There is a great chance that someone will be learning “on the job” while auditing your company

2. Interviewing random people – it is not possible for an auditor to verify findings, interview or to check awareness by talking to random people in the organisation

3. Access to documents – many documents (records) are kept as printed copies only. Presenting these during the audit and explaining the content may be time-consuming

4. Manipulation of objects – often auditors inspect parts or products during the visit (e.g. labels, ID, calibration, quality, etc.). Managing this process via remote link is impossible.

5. Technical limitations – the quality of connection (voice, video) is not always satisfactory when we work remotely. With the increased internet traffic, reliability and quality of the connection will continue to be an issue.

There is an excellent opportunity for auditors and auditees in moving away from costly site visits toward remote assessments. I doubt we are ready to do that, though. The number of challenges is higher than what I have highlighted in this post.

More work needs to be done before effective remote audits can be introduced.

What would be your choice? Remote audit or deferred audit?

Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments below.