A quality control audit reviews quality assurance systems to determine whether they are effective. This may be performed internally for a company’s own reference, or by a third party agency. In some cases, the results are made public, as seen with government agencies which need to be accountable to citizens and residents. The outcome of an audit may include violations of varying severity, or a clean result, with no violations found during the investigation.
Such audits provide a system of accountability to ensure that a company or agency meets its stated quality goals. For a quality control audit to be successful, auditors need unlimited access to personnel, records, and facilities. Third parties can be especially good auditors, as they are neutral, with no stake in the outcome of the investigation. People within a company may have an incentive to return favorable results, and could overlook issues that other investigators might examine more deeply.
Over the course of a quality control audit, auditors can review a variety of materials. They may look at stated policies and procedures, and can compare them to actual performance. This can involve watching employees responsible for quality control as well as interviewing people to determine how knowledgeable they are about procedures, and what they would do in the event of a quality problem. Records can also be reviewed to determine if the company applies policies consistently and logically.
