01 · the-interview — Clause 5.1 · The interview on the audit plan
on screen: compare
Your auditor will ask to speak with top management, and that conversation is audit evidence. Clause 5.1 puts leadership on the audit plan alongside every other requirement. It is scheduled, it has questions, and the answers are checked. The quality manager cannot answer it on their behalf.
02 · the-clause — In the standard · What clause 5.1 requires
on screen: quote
Here is the requirement in the standard's own words. Top management shall demonstrate leadership and commitment with respect to the management system, by taking accountability for its effectiveness. Shall is the auditable word. The same clause carries the same duty in I S O nine thousand and one, I S O fourteen thousand and one, and I S O forty five thousand and one.
03 · who-counts — Who we mean
on screen: statement
Top management is defined in the standards, and the definition decides who we ask for. It is the person or group who directs and controls the organization at the highest level. In a single site company that is usually the managing director. In a group it is the executive who can commit the resources the system needs. We agree the names when the audit plan is issued.
04 · what-is-asked — The questions · Five things top management is asked
on screen: cards
Five questions come up in almost every one of these interviews. What the management system is achieving, and who is accountable for it. What the policy commits the organization to, in your own words. Whether the objectives match where the business is going. What the system asked you for, and what it was given. And how you know any of it is working.
05 · said-and-checked — Corroboration · The answers are read against records
on screen: panels
An interview is evidence, and it is corroborated like any other. Top management describes how the system is performing, what the last management review decided, and what the previous audit found. The auditor then reads what sits behind those answers. Minutes with an attendance list. Objectives with results against them. Resource decisions with dates on them.
06 · management-review — Clause 9.3 · Where accountability leaves a record
on screen: list
The management review is where that accountability leaves a record. Auditors read the minutes for four things. Who was in the room, and whether they hold the authority to decide. What was put in front of them, from performance against objectives to findings and complaints. What was decided, about the system and about the resources it runs on. And what happened afterwards.
07 · roles-and-authorities — Clause 5.3 · The roles top management assigns
on screen: cards
Clause 5.3 sits beside it, and asks something narrower. Top management assigns the responsibilities and authorities the system needs, and makes sure they are understood. Auditors check four things. That every named role has a person in it today. That the person knows what the role carries. That they hold the authority it implies. And that the chart was updated when somebody left.
08 · the-policy-finding — What goes wrong · A policy signed, and not understood
on screen: compare
This is one of the most common findings we raise against leadership. A policy is signed, framed and hung in reception, and nobody working under it can say what it commits them to. Clause 5.2 asks that the policy suits the purpose of the organization, and that it is understood inside it. The auditor tests that by asking them. A policy that would fit any company fails the first test too.
09 · what-we-will-not-write — Where we stop
on screen: statement
There is a line here that we hold. We will tell you what the clause requires, why a finding was raised, and what evidence would close it. Writing your policy is work we decline, because we are the body that audits it. That obligation comes from the international standard our certification work runs to, and it is what makes the certificate worth holding.
10 · taken-for — Three assumptions · What the interview gets taken for
on screen: strike
Three assumptions turn up before these interviews. That the quality manager can answer on the board's behalf. That ten minutes at the opening meeting will cover it. That a signature on the policy is the evidence. Responsibility for running the system can be assigned under clause 5.3. Clause 5.1 asks top management to account for what it achieves.
11 · the-loop — The mechanism · The loop an auditor traces
on screen: cycle
Underneath all of it is one loop, and an auditor traces it in order. Top management sets a direction, and the policy states it. Resources are allocated against it. The results come back, at management review. Then the direction changes, or it is held for a reason somebody recorded. An auditor follows it round, and a break anywhere in it is what a finding names.
12 · every-year — Every audit · Leadership is sampled every year
on screen: cycle-track
Leadership is sampled at every audit in the cycle. Your certificate runs for three years, with a surveillance audit in each of the two years between and recertification at the end. Management review and internal audit are examined at each of those. So is what changed at the top since we were last with you, because a new managing director inherits the accountability.
13 · close
on screen: statement
Clause 5.1 puts your top management in the audit, with questions and with records behind them. What the system achieves, what the policy commits you to, and what the review decided. Have the people who can answer that in the room on the day.