NQA Interview with Archie Gemmell Part 4

In this video, Adam Faiers from ISO Compliance Register interviews Archie Gemmell, Field Director at NQA, a leading UKAS/ANAB accredited certification body that provides certification, training and support services for ISO standards. 

In this final excerpt from the full interview, we asked for some advice for any clients with an audit coming up. This provided some great tips which are all helpful for anyone anticipating an audit from NQA, helping manage what they should expect and what they should do to prepare. 

Being prepared and having a good understanding of your system is a priority. You should know where evidence is or know who the right people are who have the evidence. These support the audit process. Not only is it important for the individual to have good awareness of the system, but wider business awareness is also valuable.  

NQA auditors also have expectations placed on them going into an audit, not just the customer. Both are expected to be open with each other as auditors should expect evidence to be provided in different ways, meaning having preconceptions about what they will find could be damaging. Successful audits require openness from both clients and auditors.