Writing Audit Non-Conformities That Drive Real Action

Internal audits are required by every major management system standard, including ISO 9001, FSSC 22000 and BRCGS. Yet many sites find the same problems audit after audit. The reason is often not the audit itself but how the findings are written. A vague non-conformity invites a vague fix.

The three parts of a good non-conformity

A well-written finding lets anyone understand the problem without having been in the room:

• Requirement: what should happen, quoting the standard, procedure or specification.
• Evidence: exactly what you saw, with references: record numbers, dates, locations, batch codes.
• Statement: a short, factual description of the gap between the two.

Weak: "Temperature records not maintained properly."
Strong: "Procedure QP-07 requires chiller temperatures to be recorded twice per shift. Records for Chiller 2 from 3 to 9 March show one reading per shift on five of seven days."

Avoid opinions and solutions

Write what you observed, not what you think caused it, and do not prescribe the fix. Deciding the cause and the action is the auditee's job, and doing it properly is what makes the correction stick.

Correction, corrective action and root cause

• Correction deals with the immediate problem, such as re-checking product or completing a missing record.
• Root cause analysis asks why it happened. Techniques such as the 5 Whys or a fishbone diagram help move past "operator error".
• Corrective action removes the root cause so the problem does not return.

If the corrective action is "retrain the operator", ask why the system allowed an untrained person to do the task. The real cause is usually there.

Close the loop

Agree realistic deadlines, name an owner for every action, and verify effectiveness at a later date, not on the day the action is closed. Trend your findings: repeated issues in one area point to a system weakness that individual fixes will not solve.

Build auditor competence

Good findings come from trained auditors. QCS Global runs CQI/IRCA certified ISO 9001:2015 and FSSC 22000 lead auditor courses, BRCGS internal auditor and root cause analysis training, and in-house internal auditor programmes tailored to your system.

Talk to QCS Global. Our team in Karachi runs public courses, in-house training and consultancy for food businesses across Pakistan. Email info@qcsglobal.org or call +92 337 2112775 (Monday to Saturday, 9 am to 5 pm), or browse our courses.