ISO 19011:2011 Ups the Ante for Management System Risk

The writers of the 2011 update of ISO 19011 report that the standard is designed to save organizations money, time, and resources by providing a uniform approach to multiple management system audits.

Compared to the first edition of the standard, which was published in 2002 and applied only to ISO 9001 and ISO 14001, the scope of ISO 19011:2011, Guidelines for auditing management systems, has been expanded to reflect the complexities of auditing multiple management system standards. It was also designed to help user organizations optimize and facilitate the integration of their management systems, streamline the audit process, reduce duplication of effort, and decrease disruption of work units being audited.

ISO 19011:2011 provides guidance on the conduct of internal or external management system audits and the management of audit programs. Its intended users include auditors, audit team leaders, audit program managers, organizations implementing management systems, and organizations needing to conduct audits of management systems for contractual or regulatory reasons.

“ISO 19011:2011 has been revised to provide auditors, organizations implementing management systems, and organizations needing to conduct audits of management systems an opportunity to re-assess their own practices and identify improvement opportunities,” says Alister Dalrymple, convenor of the team that updated the guidelines. “Compared to the 2002 version, the standard adds the concept of risk and recognizes more explicitly the competence of the audit team and individual auditors. Also, the use of technology in remote auditing is acknowledged, for example, conducting remote interviews and reviewing records remotely.”

Another improvement in the standard is its clarification of the relationship between ISO 19011:2011 and ISO/IEC 17021:2011. Although most organizations involved in management system certification audits follow the requirements of ISO/IEC 17021:2011, they might also find the guidance in ISO 19011:2011 useful, reports Dalrymple.

ISO 19011:2011 was developed by subcommittee three of ISO technical committee ISO/TC 176. For more information, visit www.iso.org.