Having a designated audit escort during a second- or third-party audit is more than just a courtesy. Its an essential element of the audit. During the opening meeting, one of the items thats generally covered is the question of who will be escorting the auditor throughout the day. Although the answer is generally straightforward, it shouldnt be discounted as unimportant.

The audit escort is a member of the auditees organization who accompanies the auditor during the audit. The individual who is tapped for the role of audit escort is usually the quality manager or the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) management representative. However, sometimes the plant manager or another member of senior management is asked to serve as an audit escort.

When an audit team consists of several members, an audit escort needs to be assigned to each auditor on the team. This can be a challenge for smaller organizations because it ties up a lot of resources. It also presents the predictable scenario that someone will be unavailable for an interview because he or she is escorting another auditor in another part of the facility. Auditors should be sensitive to this fact and attempt to coordinate activities so that not all key personnel are tied up at the same time.

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