What Does
Auditor Mean?
An auditor is a person or a company that carries out audits. The primary responsibility of the auditor during an audit is the collection of evidence, which will be used to determine how well audit criteria are being met. In this regard, auditors need to be objective, impartial, competent, and independent.
Safeopedia Explains Auditor
Auditors need to acquire the necessary qualities, knowledge, and skills in the basic requirements of personal behavior, as well as technical knowledge and skills. Key knowledge that successful auditors need to possess includes:
- Requirements of a safety and health management system like OHSAS 18001, which is sometimes referred to as the audit criteria
- Current and applicable legal requirements
- Good safety-management practice
In addition, the ISO 19011, a guidance document used for auditing management systems, differentiates between internal and external auditors.
Internal auditors, generally an organization’s own employees, perform first-party audits. Meanwhile, external auditors, who are not the organization’s own employees, perform second- and third-party audits.