Audits and inspections: different objectives

An inspection observes specific conditions; an audit evaluates evidence against defined criteria.

Connecting them helps when the outcome states what was actually checked.

Consider a guard found open during a walk-through. An inspection can record the observed condition and trigger management of the immediate risk. An audit can explore how checks are planned, who handles defects and what evidence shows that actions work. The activities can inform each other, while keeping their questions, criteria and limitations clear.

In the report, I would distinguish the observed fact from a conclusion about the system: one example does not automatically describe the whole organisation. I would record the location, timing, criteria and points still needing verification. The follow-up conversation should ask the process owner how improvement will be sustained, and give the people involved understandable feedback on the decisions taken.

How do you make a finding useful to those implementing change?