EASAOnline is pleased to discuss the role of the EASA Quality Assurance Auditor. Quality Auditors will be found in all organisations which work under the umbrella of the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), including Airlines, Airports, and Maintenance Organizations.

Considering the Nature of Audits

When we talk about audits we are generally talking about the need to ensure compliance. Regulatory audits are essentially compliance audits where we are looking to compare the actual with the expected. The expected typically is compliance either with EASA or another regulatory body.

European Airlines must maintain compliance with all EASA regulatory requirements, including, of course, the parts and sub-parts.

We use an audit also as a tool to protect the organization. Many areas of the business could be described as high risk, which means that it is essential to follow the rules correctly. For these business areas audits play a significant role in establishing ongoing conformity both with the regulatory environment as well as with all company processes and procedures.

Compliance audits can be considered reactive and are designed to give assurance that all required activities have been performed properly. Compliance audits are presented typically as a completed checklist of items to be observed.

The audit is presented typically as a checklist of observed conditions at the time of the audit. One of the drawbacks of compliance-type auditing is that it does not physically test the process or procedures. As a result, some assumptions are usually made on behalf of the auditor (which are not always correct).

Auditor Competency plays a more significant role in delivering effective performance and process audits when compared with compliance audits.

What are Performance Audits?

Performance Audits do not look directly at compliance. Rather, they focus on the effectiveness of the organisation's activities. Performance audits may build on the foundation of compliance audits in that they provide an opportunity to improve the effectiveness of the process. Performance audits should be based on partnership because the Business Area Owner is also a stakeholder.

In performance auditing any gaps found may not be non-conformities against regulations but against the company's desired best practice.

Other variations of the Compliance type of audit are the Product, Process, or System Audits. A product audit is almost akin to an inspection, where the completed product (maybe a whole aircraft or documented activity) is considered against expected criteria. It is typically recognized, of course, that the more effective the resources that are employed are, the more efficient the outcome will be.

Thus, if we can increase our attention to process efficiency, we will perform more process audits within the business areas as a result.