Establishing Audit Schedules

A key requirement from Clause 9.2 of ISO 27001, ISO 22301 and ISO 9001 is the need to: ‘Plan, establish, implement and maintain an audit program (s) including the frequency, methods, responsibilities, planning requirements and reporting, which shall take into consideration the importance of the processes concerned and the results of previous audits.’

Veritas auditors are highly proficient and experienced in establishing audit schedules where the following factors are taken into account:

• Three-year plan to ensure all elements/controls are covered in the certification period
• Aspects of your management system are assessed in the certification lifecycle and more regularly if deemed appropriate
• Audits are prioritized based on:
  • Risks to your organization
  • Incidents that have occurred
  • Previous audit findings
  • Management requirements
  • Criticality of processes
  • Legal and regulatory requirements
  • Contractual requirements

As a general rule of thumb, when scheduling audits, Veritas will prioritize those areas that represent the greatest risk (in terms of information security, business continuity, and quality) to the organization, both in terms of timing and frequency. If there have been previous incidents or audit findings in certain areas, Veritas will again likely be auditing more often and sooner.

VERITAS will also consider the best approach for your organization to maximize the return whilst minimizing the internal overhead. So, for example, does process-based auditing work best in your organization, maybe by department or the control group, Veritas will understand the best approach for you and align the audit schedule and approach accordingly.

Integrated audits

For those organizations that implement a number of international management system standards, such as ISO 27001, 22301, 20000, and 9001, there is the opportunity to operate a single management system. This opportunity has been created by the common adoption of the Annex SL high-level structure in terms of identical sub-clause titles, identical text, common terms, and core definitions within each standard. When auditing a single combined managed system, this is termed an ‘integrated audit.’

By integrating your audits, your organization can benefit from less disruption to your business, less duplication of questions, reduced certification costs, and reduced documentation. There will also be greater consistency of objectives across the different systems.

With its breadth of expertise and knowledge of multiple standards, Veritas is adept at implementing and auditing integrated management systems. Veritas auditors are able to assist you in developing a single audit plan, with a reduced number of audits, opening meetings, closing meetings, and audit reports, along with the accompanying reduction in system administration; the organization having a single audit will reduce the number of work interruptions. Veritas often finds that integrated audits are deeper and more meaningful and provide a better understanding of the relationship between related processes and critical systems.