ISO 9001:2015 TWO MAN AUDIT TEAM RATIONALE

ISO 9001:2015 AVIATION SAFETY AUDITS - NEWS BRIEF

February 2022

TWO MAN AUDIT TEAM RATIONALE

It is now globally accepted that the external aviation safety audit is a critical component of an organisation’s Quality and Safety Management responsibility. As part of the continuous improvement cycle, audits are an essential instrument to identify and implement potential improvements.

It is also common knowledge that ISO 9001:2015 is the global leader in quality control methodology that is best suited to establishing an effective Quality Management System; therefore, it stands to reason that the auditing company (the Auditor) should be ISO 9001:2015 Certified and all auditors should be external aviation auditor certified under an approved ISO 9001:2015 Certifying authority.

The Flight Safety Group has subjected this to in-depth legal review and the final report received has confirmed the validity of this approach.

The hierarchical setup within the organisation is critical - the core Key Personnel member responsible is the CEO or Accountable Manager, this applies not only to aviation but all Company structures.

A common misnomer is that the CEO/Accountable Manager is under the misguided impression that Quality and Safety can be delegated – it can be delegated, but Accountability remains with the one single individual CEO/Accountable Manager irrespective of the size of the organisation.

This is described below as an integral function of Flight Safety’s involvement in Accident Investigations and Accident Investigation Training utilising the Tripod Analysis and HFACS/HFIX (Human Factors Analysis and Classification System/Human Factors Intervention matriX) technique.

Reference ICAO Doc 9859:

Aviation as a highly specialised, complex, and high-risk undertaking, requires maximum oversight capability, hence the need for regular and reputable external audit processes.

Flight Safety’s twenty-five years of auditing experience coupled with fifteen years of ISO Certification and the in-depth legal review mentioned has confirmed the validity of the two-man audit team requirement.

A single auditor is usually a specialist in either Operations or Maintenance. The two-man team allows for a specialist in both areas to be appointed.

An interesting correlation to the above has been Flight Safety’s involvement in Accident Investigations and Accident Investigation Training utilising Tripod Analysis and HFACS/HFIX (Human Factors Analysis and Classification System/Human Factors Intervention matriX).

An example of this technique extracted from one of our accident investigations in South Africa describes the process.

A relationship and parallel can now be drawn between the need for a two-man audit team, careful and complete auditing of Quality Management and Safety Management Systems, as a viable corrective/preventative measure against the possibility of an accident or serious incident.

The internationally recognised James Reason ‘Swiss Cheese’ depiction and tabular model shown below aligns with the HFACS/HFIX Accident/Incident concept described above.

This analytical process can be applied to any accident or incident whether it is aviation, industrial or medical related and has proven to be an invaluable tool in determining causal outcomes and the necessary corrective/preventative actions required.

The misguided ‘cheaper option’ approach using a single auditor has the following distinct disadvantages:

The audit results identified by a single auditor can be contested and overridden by the auditee, both post audit and under legal review if there is a serious accident or incident, in this instance the preponderance of numbers favours the auditee.

There are two issues with cost re this (single auditor) approach –

Additional days must be allocated to complete the audit process if it is to be carried out effectively.
If the time is reduced for cost competitive reasons as is usually the case, then the audit will be rushed with an incomplete and questionable result.

During the audit process a single set of eyes can miss critical indicators re the Human Factors element of the audit process e.g., a controversial question asked can often be identified/flagged as requiring deeper investigation, by a simple questioning glance between auditee personnel.

The approach using a two-man audit team, as described has the following distinct advantages:

The audit process time span is reduced as the audit flow is faster and in addition it is possible with certain elements of the audit to split the team.

The two-man audit team provides a higher level of legal assurance, keeping in mind that this is especially critical if it ever came to a Coroner’s Court appearance.

A two-man team allows more scope and time to accurately describe and document the Findings to be included and signed off at the Closing Meeting.

The two-man audit team allows for certain elements of the audit to be mutually analysed and assessed, ensuring a balanced result.

The Flight Safety Group is ISO 9001:2015 certified with approval scope; External Aviation Safety Audit and Inspection, Risk Assessment, Consultancy (including independent accident and incident investigation) and Training services. Helideck, Helicopter Landing Site, and Helipad – Layout Design Appraisal, Helicopter Landing Structure Suitability Assessment, Friction Testing, Safety and Operational Assessment and Certification.

For more information contact:

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Flight Safety | +61 (0)7 5448 2788 | www.flightsafetygroup.com