Future-proofing businesses, Wiser Environment highlights the many advantages of a remote IMS audit. COVID-19 has had an unintentional positive impact on the IMS auditing sector. Movement restrictions have compelled conformity assessment bodies to utilise remote auditing methods. As a result, businesses are now receiving a service that has greater added value and specialisation.
Shaking up the Integrated Management System (IMS) industry, COVID-19 has pressured conformity assessment bodies (CABs) to move towards remote auditing methods. Wiser Environment expects that this will be the case for the foreseeable future. Whilst change can be difficult – and businesses should make preparations – the pivot to remote auditing does create added value. Pulling from their substantial experience, the Wiser IMS team has put together a list of the key advantages of a remote IMS audit.
Benefits of remote auditing
- Most importantly, remote audits are quicker and more affordable when compared to traditional methods. Saving on travel time and elongated meetings, remote audits are streamlined; focusing on the key areas of the audit process.
- The remote nature of the assessment method reduces the need for non-essential travel and in-turn saving time. This improves environmental performance and provides greater flexibility for all parties involved in the assessment.
- To balance out the added flexibility, remote audits have a more rigorous structure. As a side effect of this structured approach, auditing the auditee’s business areas is more efficient and effective.
- Remote assessment reduces the burden on the auditee’s operations. With traditional onsite auditing, a business and its workforce can feel compelled to accommodate the CAB’s audit team. This can inadvertently lead to operational interruptions and reduced throughput efficiencies. In a less taxing approach, remote audits only need to involve those operational teams at select times.
- Wiser Environment finds that remote IMS audits have greater specialisation and are happening more frequently. This is because IMS audits are now easier and cheaper to conduct. Throughout the COVID-19 outbreak, the Wiser IMS team found that auditors were prioritising business support functions over operational systems. Wiser reasons that CABs are now empowered to conduct less expansive audits more often.
Wiser Environment has extensive experience in developing integrated management systems and upgrading them to international standards. This includes ISO 9001, ISO 14001, ISO 50001 and ISO 45001. To hear more about how Wiser can help companies unlock the advantages of a remote IMS audit, contact Wiser Environment or call on 01480 462232.