[Tech Talk] Preparing for Third-Party Audits

We are about to start 2012 and being ready for third-party audits that will occur in your clients' facilities is vital. While government agency audits are important, more often clients are audited by third-party auditing bodies as a requirement to sell their product to another processor or retailer.

Our clients' compliance with third-party audit requirements and the resulting audit scores determine the completion or continuation of their contracts to sell their products. Thousands or millions of dollars could hang in the balance. While our portion of these audits is usually one fifth or less of the total score, pest issues can trigger an automatic failure. That places a great deal of importance on having our portion of these audits compliant and ready. So how do we prepare for these audits?
 

Know your standards. The first step in meeting audit requirements is to know the various standards. This sounds simple, but it is not always so easy. It's a challenge to obtain the latest copies of all standards so be sure you have the correct standards for the industry you are working with.

Compile files with the standards for every auditing body you are aware of. As you hear of new standards be sure to obtain them. Then make a spreadsheet to compare the different standards of each auditing body. Determining the most common and the strictest standard will prove useful to your sales team moving forward. I obtain the standards through the auditing bodies' website and from my clients. Know the standard. It's imperative if you wish to have a knowledgeable and professional meeting with your client.

When working on a specific client's audit compliance, schedule a meeting with your client's point of contact to review what is required from their point of view. During that meeting I request a copy of the standards they've been asked to meet. Occasionally I find their copy is different than what I've downloaded. In addition, sometimes the client's corporate QA department has developed its own SOP that must be integrated into the audit standards. In some cases the corporate SOP already has combined the client's requirements and all of the audit standards they've agreed to have.

Once you have the standards for your client clearly in mind, read your agreement with them to see if it complies with the standard. Every audit of a pest control program starts at the front of the logbook with a review of what the contract indicates you will do at the facility. If the contract or service agreement does not comply with the standards, the entire program will be under suspicion. It has given the auditor the impression that you and your client have not developed a pest control program that will meet the required standards. The auditor will wonder if you really know what you are doing. Your client will be wondering the same thing.

Communicate. Several crucial elements of an audit are out of the control of technicians, field managers and QA staff. Those elements may be contracts; licenses; certificates of insurance; tracking and trending information; and approved material lists. Your corporate office may handle most of these items. They may not understand how their part can play a "make or break" role in an audit at your client's facility. Communicating this will help the staff pull together and prevent stress at audit time.

The sales team will be a great asset in getting contracts that comply with your client's standards. The easiest time to get into compliance is from the start. From the first contact with the prospective client you should be inquiring about auditing standards. There may be any number of standards: AIB, Silliker, NSF, SQF, BRC, ISO and more. Asking for previous audit results in the pest control area and related comments will help you know where to focus. Design the program to meet the standards and you will be on your way to success.

Finance and regulatory team members may not know how critical licenses and insurance renewals are in an audit. This is normally the second thing an auditor inspects. While we know that we can complete our portion of the license renewal and return it well before the due date, we also know that we are at the mercy of the state to process the license. If a current license copy is not in the client's book, they will expect you to get a current copy in a matter of hours. The same holds true for certificates of insurance. Planning ahead and striving to have these documents renewed before the expiration date arrives is stressful, but far less stressful for all concerned than dealing with it during an audit the day after it expires. If you see that a state is running behind, contact them and ask for a letter stating that you have submitted your renewals. Supply a copy of this letter and the renewal forms to your client to be added to the logbook. This has satisfied almost all auditors who I have encountered.

The IT team is becoming indispensable if you want to be ready for an audit. The audit standards have propelled most of us into the electronic data-capturing mode. This is the easiest way to comply with most of the newer requirements of mainstream auditing standards. Having great communication with IT is critical, helping them to understand the atmosphere in an audit is paramount. Ask an IT team member to accompany your QA team member while an audit preparatory QA is being conducted. It will give them a vital understanding of just how important their role is during a third-party audit. Then they will be in the best place to assist you in getting the required information on the service reports and knowing how to best develop the tracking and trending so crucial in today's auditing world.

The technical team is usually plugged in to the audit process more than most, but everyone can get behind schedule, resulting in a necessary component in the client's logbook being out of date. An approved material list must be updated in the field (as new situations arise) and in the office. Even if the list has not changed, many audit standards require that they be reviewed and signed on a yearly basis.

The QA team is a technician's best friend. By developing a checklist that will ensure you have met the standards and have all of the required documentation, you'll have the fail-safe system you need to be prepared for an audit. A simple Excel spreadsheet will do the job. The checklist is the best way to prevent forgetting the smallest issue that needs to be checked or addressed when correcting any deficiencies found in the auditor's review. I have been auditing facilities many years and still use the checklist to prevent mistakes. It's the single most important tool after establishing the standards and developing your program in preparing for the audit.

The QA team usually leads in collecting and maintaining the auditing body's standards, auditing the facility site maps for accuracy, performing annual assessments, and giving instructions for archiving log book contents early each year. They are keenly aware that a messy logbook will frustrate an auditor and often result in lower audit scores.

Service & Document. This may seem to be a given for the technician, but meeting the standards for audit day may be impossible if you have not followed the standard during each of the previous services. This is especially true with electronic documentation.

Review the standards and the contract so you know what is required. Always keep your ear open to any hint that your client may be adding a new auditing standard since upgrading to a more demanding audit is a fact of life.

Ensure your equipment is clean and meets all standards. This is difficult in some facilities, but "you never have a second chance for a first impression." In this case, your equipment will give the auditor a first impression about your level of service after he inspects the first few stations, traps and monitors.

Ask the QA team for a copy of its checklist so you can be audit-ready at all times by auditing yourself. If they do not use one, or your company does not have a QA team, develop your own checklist. Anticipate unannounced audits. Be ready.
 

Update yearly. Many audit standards require yearly re-evaluations. Don't make this a routine and unproductive effort. Use this to re-evaluate the program and determine if it is meeting the needs of the facility. This should be a joint effort with input from the technician, manager, QA and the client's facility team. This is the time to discuss issues that you believe can enhance the pest control program, or issues that are making the program less than effective. If the client is upgrading its audit standards, this is the time to hash through it. In the end, a plan that you and your client agree to will define the service for the next year.

The author is an Associate Certified Entomologist and director of technical services at Gregory Pest Solutions, Greenville, S.C. He can be reached via e-mail at bbaker@giemedia.com.

Copesan is an alliance of pest management companies with locations throughout North America. To learn more, visit www.copesan.com.