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Acceptance criteria - The standard
against which a comparison is made to judge conformance
Accreditation - A process by which
organizations are authorized to conduct certification of conformity to
prescribed standards
Activities affecting quality - Any
activity which affects the determination of product or service features
and characteristics, their specification, achievement or verification or
means to plan organize, control, assure or improve them
Activity
- An activity is the smallest parcel of work
Adequacy
audit - An audit carried out to establish
that the quality system documentation adequately addresses the
requirements of a prescribed standard. N.B. also referred to as a
Documentation audit. For more on auditing see
Auditor Questions
Adequate
- Suitable for the purpose
Aggressive behaviour - Behaviour likely
to intimidate the auditee and reduce their co-operation. A person who
forces his/her opinions or demands upon others and offers no co-operation
Appropriate - Appropriate means
appropriate to the circumstances and requires knowledge of these
circumstances. Without criteria, an Assessor is left to decide what is or
is not appropriate
Approved.
- Something that has been confirmed as meeting the requirements
Assertive
behaviour - Behaviour likely to cause positive results without
intimidating the auditee. A person who offers resistance when attempts are
made to distract him/her from their objective
Assessment - The act of determining the
extent of compliance with requirements - Assessment period - The time,
usually in months, between full assessments
Assessment - The act of determining the
extent of compliance with requirements
Assurance - Evidence (verbal or written)
that gives confidence that something will or will not happen or has or has
not happened
Audit
- An examination of results to verify their accuracy by someone other than
the person responsible for producing them. For more on auditing see
Auditor Questions
Audit
brief - A
statement defining the boundary conditions and requirements for an audit.
Specifically, details of the organisation to be audited, the audit
objective and its scope
Audit
objectives - The result that is to
be achieved by the audit and usually one or more of the following:
-
Whether certain agreed provisions,
if implemented will yield the required results
-
Whether only the agreed provisions
are being implemented
-
Whether the provisions have
yielded results that are fit for their purpose and meet the needs of
those who require them
-
Whether a certificate of
conformance can be issued - Whether some improvement is necessary before
awarding a certificate
Audit
plan - A chart showing the areas to
be audited during a specific audit of an organisation, including the
timing and names of the auditors involved. For more on auditing see
Auditor Questions
Audit
programme - A chart showing the audits scheduled to be
performed on specific organisations over a given period usually 12 months.
For more on auditing see
Auditor Questions
Audit
purpose - To establish, by an unbiased means, factual
information on some aspect of performance. For more on auditing see
Auditor Questions
Audit
report - A factual account of the results of the audit
including the good points, extent of compliance, nonconformities,
conclusions, recommendations and corrective actions. For more on auditing
see Auditor Questions
Audit
scope - The range or extent of the audit including the
standard or contract against which the audit is to be conducted, the
products and services and the processes to be included e.g. design,
development, production, installation or servicing. For more on auditing
see Auditor Questions
Audit
trail - A path of enquiry and discovery that an auditor
follows in search of objective evidence. For more on auditing see
Auditor Questions
Auditee
- The person whose operations are being audited
Auditor
- A person who has the qualifications and is authorised to conduct an
audit
Auditors
review meeting - A meeting convened by the Lead
Auditor to review progress, discuss nonconformities, resolve problems and
compile the audit report. For more on auditing see
Auditor Questions
Authority - The right to take actions and
make decisions
Authorized - A permit to do something or
use something that may not necessarily be approved |
