Internal Audit for ISO 9001 Standard
How many internal audit (IA)should be performed in a year for ISO 9001 Certified company or iso 9001 certification? Actually there is no specific requirement according to the ISO 9001 standard. However, the frequency of IA should be determined according to your quality policy and objective.
From the clause 8.2.2b the details idea can be found about internal audit for ISO 9001 Standard. Usually 2 times in a year is the mostly common practice all over the world. However three or four times can also be done and some organizations are doing that. Specially who are serious about their quality.
If a lot of nonconformity/nonconformities are found from the audit then frequency should be higher for continual development of the process. If the systems run well then lower frequency for IA may be considered.
About this topic of internal audit many ISO experts from different countries have expressed their valuable opinions in different way in linkedin based forum ISO 9001 for small business. You can check it from this ISO Forum link
Though there is differences about IA but every expert of ISO 9001 is agreed and it is mandatory to do Internal audit for ISO 9001 Standard Certified company. With internal audit Management review is also mandatory for certification and for iso 9001 certified companies.
Why Internal Audit for ISO 9001 Standard is mandatory?
Internal audit is the tool to see your company’s status. In another word what are happening inside your company, where is gap for what, where is good for what etc can be known from this item.
As a company owner it is not possible for you to visit all sections of all departments. But as a sample basis you can see actually what is happening in your company by performing internal audit. From this internal audit result you can take decision to develop any weak section of any department of your company.
How to do Internal Audit for ISO 9001 Standard Certification/Certified Company?
You can hire an ISO 9001 consultant or you can build internal auditor team by your staffs inside your company. There are many iso training organizations or Certified ISO 9001 Lead Auditors in Bangladesh who can provide training for building internal auditor team inside your company premises. To find one you may contact the page aas ISO consultancy or call now 01742125232.