Remote audits | Audits during the coronavirus pandemic

Remote Audits: find out how audits can be carried out online in times of Corona All audit information about Corona at TÜV NORD. MENU CompanyCompanyPrivate English Deutsch English CareerTÜVNORDGROUPCustomerLogin Search Search IndustryEducationCertificationITBuildingsEnergyHealthEvents ManufacturerOperatorsIndustryFunctionalSafetyConferencesandConventionsPersonalCertificationInternationalProjectsEducationSectorsTopicsServicesNewsProductCertificationSupportCertificationAdvicewhenbuyingRealEstatesBuildingCheckBuildingDamageAssessmentBuildingRenovationChargingpointsE-MobilityFireProtectionMaintenanceandServicePlanningPropertyValueAppraisalQualityAssuranceduringConstructionEnergyEfficiencyforBuildingsGreaseSeparatorsHeatingOilStorageTanksLiftsLiquefiedGasTanksPlantsinAccordancewithBuildingRegulationsRefrigeration,airconditioningandventilationtechnologyAnalysisofdrinkingwaterIndoorairhygiene–productforallegicpersonsBuildingsConventionalpowerplantsEnergyefficiencyHydrogenNuclearRenewablesStorageEnergy Home Certification Support RemoteauditsatTÜVNORD Duetothecoronapandemic,therearenumerousspecialregulationsofthestandardownerswhichallowremoteauditsonalargerscalethanbefore.  Themostimportantquestionsandanswers Whichorganisationsaresuitableforremoteaudits? Duetothecoronapandemic,therearemanyspecialrequirementswhichmeanthatremoteauditsarepossibleforalmostallcompaniestoagreaterextentthanbefore.Inparticular,moreandmoreremoteauditshavebeenconductedoutfortheauditingofmanagementsystemssincethebeginningofthepandemic,basedonthesespecialrequirements. Whichauditscanbeperformedremotely? Accordingtotheinternationalrequirementsforcertificationofmanagementsystems(ISO/IEC17021-1,IAFMD4),andaccordingtothespecialrequirementsforperformanceofauditsduringthecoronapandemic(IAFID3,IAFFrequentlyAskedQuestionsCOVID-19Pandemic),partsofcertification,surveillanceandrecertificationauditscanbeconductedremotely. Are100%remoteauditspossible? Accordingtotheinternationalrequirementsforcertificationofmanagementsystems(ISO/IEC17021-1),certification,surveillanceandrecertificationauditsshallincludeon-siteaudits.Thisisalsobasicallytrueduringthecoronapandemic. However,duringthecoronapandemic,inprincipleandonlyinjustifiedindividualcasesitispossibletoconductaudits100%remotely,takingintoaccountthespecialrequirementsfortheperformanceofauditsduringthecoronapandemic(IAFID3,IAFFrequentlyAskedQuestionsCOVID-19Pandemic).Inordertoconductout100%remoteaudits,thefollowingconditionsmustbefulfilled: theorganisationtobeauditedrefusestoallowtheauditteamtoaccessthesite,basedonprotectivemeasurestakenbytheorganisationitself, theorganisationissituatedinanareawhichhasbeendesignatedasa“virusvariantarea”,“highincidencearea”orariskareaforCOVID-19andthereforeissubjecttotravelrestrictionsand theorganisationisknowntotheauditorortheauditteamfromearlieraudits.Inthecaseofremoteauditsitshallbeensuredthatallrequirementsofthestandardcanbeassessedandthatitispossibletoviewobjectsandprocesses. AllremoteauditsallowedasaresultofthecoronapandemicresultfromindividualdecisionsbasedonriskandshallbeapprovedbytheTNCERTcertificationbody. HowdoesTÜVNORDhandletheconfidentialityofdatainremoteaudits? Naturallyyourdatawillbehandledjustasconfidentiallyinaremoteauditasinanormalon-siteaudit. Whatistheprocedureforaremoteaudit? Basicallythereisnodifferencebetweenaremoteauditandatraditionalon-siteaudit.Theauditdialogueonsiteisreplaced–inpartorasawhole–byainteractiveweb-supportedvideoconference.Itisimportantthatallthosetakingpartintheauditshouldcheckthetechnicalequipmentbeforetheaudit.Agoodwaytodothisistohaveatestvideoconference.Thefinaldetailsoftheauditcanalsobediscussedwiththeauditorsduringthistestconference. Whatarethetechnicalrequirements? Inordertobeabletoconductremoteauditssuccessfully,suitablehard-andsoftware(laptops,desktopPCs,headsets,webcams,stableInternetconnection,conferencetoolslikeWebXorMsTeamsetc.)havetobepresentattheauditors'andthecompaniestobeaudited Canonlyofficelocationsbeauditedremotely,orcanremoteauditsalsobeusedforproductionsites? Ifproductionsitesaresituatedinanareawhichhasbeendesignatedasa“virusvariantarea”,”highincidencearea”ora“riskarea”forCOVID-19,remoteauditscanalsobeconductedatproductionsites,ifitisensuredthatallrequirementscanbeassessedanditispossibletoviewobjectsandprocesses. CanIalsomakeuseofremoteauditsifIamanewcustomerofTÜVNORD? Remoteauditscanbeconductedforallclientgroups.Fororganisationsimpactedbythecoronavirus,inprincipleandonlyinjustifiedindividualcases,initial(first)certificationscanalsobeconductedremotely.Thepartoftheaudittobeconductedremotelyshallbedeterminedasadecisionfortheindividualcasebasedonrisk.ThedecisionhastobeapprovedbytheTNCERTcertificationbody. RemoteauditsforfoodsafetystandardsIFS,BRCGSandFSSC22000 Thestandardownersinthefoodsectortakedifferentpositions.FortheIFSandBRCGSareasyouwillfindanoverviewoftheremotepossibilitiesunderthedownloadbuttonbelow.Forallotherstandardswewillbehappytocheckwhetheryourindividualcertificationcanbeimplementedremotely.Thefirststandardownersinthefoodsectoralsoofferremoteauditsfortheperiodafterthepandemic.Wehavecompiledthemostimportantinformationforyouhere.Pleasecontactyourlocalofficeforfurtherinformation. RemoteAuditsFood:OverviewonSurveillanceCheckpossibilitieshere RemoteauditsatTÜVNORD Sorry,thisvideocannotbeplayedbecauseofyourprivacysetting.Youcanchangeyoursettingshereanytime. WatchonYoutube Checklist:Areyoureadyforaremoteaudit? RoomsBest:QuietconferenceroomAlternative:QuietofficeroomInfrastructureStableInternetconnectionUsualwebbrowsers:Firefox,Chrome,InternetExplorerBest:connectionvianetworkcableAlternative:ConnectionviaWLANDesktopcomputer/Laptop/Tablet/WhiteboardforconnectionCameraforvideotransmissionBest:Conferencecam(withatleast2megapixel)Alternative:WebcamAudioequipmentforsoundtransmissionBest:AudioconferencesystemAlternative:HeadsetwithmicrophoneAllthepeoplerelevanttotheauditmusthaveanemailaddress.Theemailaddressisnecessaryinordertoinvitetheparticipantstoattendtheremoteaudit. SoftwareBest:Videoconferencesoftware(CiscoWebExoderMicrosoftSkypeforBusiness)Iftheorganisationdoesnothavevideoconferencesoftwareatthemoment:WebEx:Lowinitialcostforplug-ininstallation(noadditionalcosts)SkypeforBusiness:UseonlypossiblewithanAccount(atacost)DocumentationBest:Allnecessarydocumentsareavailableindigitalform.Alternative:Possibilitytoscaninorphotographdocuments(bymeansofwebcam,e.g.withWindows10:Preinstalled“Camera”App)Onlynecessaryfordocumentsinhardcopy Pleasecontactus Menu Company Industry Education Certification IT Buildings Energy Health Events CompanyBackPleaseChooseCompanyPrivate English Back ChooseLanguage Deutsch English CareerTÜVNORDGROUPCustomerLogin