What does the future of remote auditing look like?
About this good practice
During the pandemic Competent Bodies accepted environmental verification and validation processes to be mixed (a remote audit and a face-to-face audit) so that companies would not have to give up EMAS during the pandemic and under contact restriction conditions. With the digital transformation and the Corona pandemic, remote audits have gained a firm place among audit methods. Remote audits have become an integral part of digitization and agile working. The ability of virtual teams to be productive at a high level - also in the auditing of management systems and processes is fact. Particularly in view of the Corona pandemic, company management "remote excellence" is increasingly being assessed by as a success factor that will determine the future. Therefore, the verifier will review the respective situation in the companies and the risks associated in advance. In future, the EU Commission must have an European wide approach in relation to remote audits.
The Commission should set up a procedure, based on the suggestions of this ENHANCE project, which will be further developed in a verifier workshop, under which circumstances remote audits may be carried out after Covid and during any other crisis .
Resources needed
4 days to organize an online workshop for verifiers and to write the minutes and if there is a clear result from the verifier a propossal to the EU commision.
Evidence of success
A proposal for a written procedure for remote audits will be developed in a verifier workshop in Austria. This proposal will be submitted to the EU Commission so that they can work on a recommendation for all EU Member States and the respective Competent Bodies and Accreditation bodies. This proposal could also be discussed in the next competent body meeting in November 2022 with the goal to become a formal decision according to EMAS regulation.
Potential for learning or transfer
The ENHANCE project overall objective is to improve the implementation of regional policy instruments oriented to increasing the efficiency of resources by the exchange of experiences and practices on supporting EMAS registration. EMAS audits have to be carried out by all EMAS companies in all EU Member states. The possibility of conducting online audits at least partly remotely would make EMAS verification easier for companies and verifiers.