Leading in Witness Audits
Witness audit
Each quality mark comes with its own set of rules and requirements. If you want confidence that the standard is being assessed correctly during audits or inspections, our specialists can conduct a witness audit. This allows us to clarify any differences in interpretation of the standard and highlight areas for improvement, both for the certification or inspection body involved.
Witness audits at a glance
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Witness audit
Witness audits offer valuable insight into the capabilities and competence of certification or inspection bodies. They assess whether these organisations are able to audit the applicable standards and associated requirements effectively. Witness audits also evaluate the competence of the auditors or inspectors involved, ensuring they possess the necessary expertise to assess the relevant standards.
By conducting a witness audit, we determine whether the body’s internal processes and training procedures are sufficient to support reliable assessments. Additionally, we provide an independent observation of whether auditors or inspectors perform their duties in full compliance with the applicable standards and conditions.
Areas for improvement
Through a witness audit, the standard-setting body gains insight into how well the objectives of its standard are achieved in practice through certification bodies and inspection bodies. The audit exposes bottlenecks in the way the standard is applied and how the audit system functions. With the concrete improvement points from the witness audit, the standard-setting body can subsequently strengthen the audit approach around its standard. Where necessary, the standard-setting body can work together with the certification body or inspection body to develop an improvement plan. We can assess the implementation of this improvement plan as part of a follow-up witness audit.
Our witness audits make clear how auditors and inspectors from different bodies interpret and apply the standard and its associated requirements during their audits or inspections. Certification bodies and inspection bodies can use these findings to better train and guide their auditors and inspectors. For the standard-setting body, these findings expose the differences in working methods between different certification bodies or inspection bodies.
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Leading companies in this service
Normec Audits & Inspections
's-Hertogenbosch Netherlands
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FAQ
Frequently asked questions
A witness audit is an independent evaluation to assess whether a certification or inspection body correctly applies the relevant standard during audits or inspections.
It clarifies differences in how standards are interpreted, identifies bottlenecks in the audit process, and highlights areas for improvement.
The findings help standard owners and bodies to improve auditor training, strengthen the audit system, and — if needed — create and follow up on an improvement plan.