I don’t think, at present, that remote audits are able replace physical audits, but done in the right way they can be very effective.Primus Auditing Ops is a Sedex affiliated audit company (AAC). Too many audits focus on the negatives and forget the good stories and best practice. Make sure you provide positive feedback during the audits.In our case we had the site fill out the Sedex self-assessment questionnaire, but you can develop your own SAQ if necessary. Get as much documentation beforehand from the site.Get a good layout of the production facilities beforehand so you know where you are during the audit, and where you want to go.It’s important that employees understand that they need to be open and honest during the interviews, and that the information they provide helps improve their workplace.That person took lots of pictures during the audit

We used Microsoft teams and had someone on the ground with a Smart phone.

The technology needs to work and it makes sense to do a practice run.

Be organised but also and don’t be worried about straying from the agenda.

Staff knew we were coming and that the intention of the audits was not about ticking boxes, but about adding value and improving performance. We were very upfront about this in our discussions with the sites before the audit.

There needs to be a high degree of trust and openness from the sites’ side.

The audits went remarkably well and we learned a fair bit along the way: During the audit we reviewed documentation sent by the sites prior to the audit, conducted visual inspections, and interviewed key staff. Two of the sites are located in Europe and the last site - to be audited next week - is in Asia.ĭuring the audits my I and the audit team used the publicly available Sedex Members' Ethical Trade Audit SMETA Measurement Criteria (Version 6.1), which looks at a company’s policies, governance and management systems to address risks in the areas of labour rights – including Modern Slavery, health and safety, the environment and business ethics. Recently I conducted remote audits for a client to assess the company’s performance against the SEDEX/SMETA criteria.

Smeta measurement criteria