On-Site Audits

The purpose of the third-party audit is to verify a company's compliance with the requirements of the HSE standards. It also provides an opportunity for the exchange of information between the company and the auditor that will identify areas for improvement required to meet the requirements of HSE standards.

The auditor will inspect all areas of the facilities, equipment, employees, documents and work area that are involved with the business processes. The auditor will observe general and/or specific HSE requirements through the facility, cleanliness, space requirements, equipment, employees, PPE, documentation and adherence to procedures. Additionally, the auditor will give conclusion, expert opinion and make review required HSE related documentation. The member supplier must have a qualified representative available to answer the auditor's questions during the on-site audit.

Auditors are responsible for all phases of the audits, including completion of the audit checklist, the audit report, follow-up on corrective actions, and any secondary audits.

A fee will be charged for the audit according to fee schedules submitted by the auditing companies. There will be additional charges to cover the auditor's travel and lodging expenses; these expenses are to be determined by the member supplier and auditing company in advance of the audit.

Communication will occur directly between the Linked World Co. as auditing company and the member supplier during all aspects of the auditing process. 

At the close of the onsite audit, the auditor will meet with the company representative and discuss any deficiencies or areas of non-compliance. The company and the auditor will establish a corrective action list and timeline to complete the required follow-up action items. The company must complete any outstanding corrective action items within the agreed upon timeline and communicate its progress to the auditor on a regular schedule compliant with the Linked World Co. audit protocol. Should a company fail to communicate with the auditor on a timely basis and/or fail to complete the corrective actions within the set timeline, the audit will be closed and an incomplete audit report will be submitted. Once the audit is closed, the company will have to start the audit process from the beginning.

Deficiencies
During the audit, the auditor will note deficiencies and rank them and assign an internal numerical value to the deficiency, based severity and criticality. The auditor will use this information as part of his or her overall evaluation and to assign a performance rating. Auditor will identified three levels of deficiencies:

Minor Deficiency
A deficiency that, in and of itself, is not of serious nature. A minor deficiency is one that is a departure from established standards. Several minor deficiencies, or a combination of major and minor deficiencies may result with lower compliance rating.

Major Deficiency
A serious deficiency. A major deficiency is one, other than a critical deficiency, that represents substantial non-compliance to, or a violation of, a HSE requirement, procedure or documentation. Major deficiencies may result with lower compliance rating.

Critical Deficiency
A deficiency so severe that a single critical deficiency is sufficient to prevent the member supplier from receiving positive compliance rating. A critical deficiency is one that judgment and experience indicate would result in hazardous or unsafe conditions for individuals using, maintaining, or depending on a product, a deficiency that judgment and experience indicate is likely to result in product recall due to economic fraud, or a deficiency that could result with negative effects.

Performance Rating System
The performance rating assigned to a company is based on the level of compliance the company exhibits to the HSE standards. The levels of compliance are as follows:

A member supplier demonstrates excellent compliance with HSE.
A member supplier demonstrates good compliance with HSE, but several significant deficiencies were noted and corrected.
A member supplier demonstrates fair or poor compliance with HSE, many deficiencies were noted and corrected; a re-audit of the facility required.

When a company has earned an excellent, passing rating, the audit will be closed and auditor submits his audit report HSE.