Vertical audit

In addition to the detailed checking of procedures, as set out in the check-list, audit trails are particularly valuable. This is a vertical audit and refers to the examination, in chronological order, of all records relating to a particular sample, from the moment of receipt through the various analyses carried out, to the reporting of results and the ultimate disposal of the sample. These vertical audits are therefore also sometimes referred to as birth-to-death audits. In contrast, a horizontal audit covers some specific activity across a number of analyses - this may be, e.g. solid-phase extraction or HPLC. 

Vertical audits on random samples (i.e. checks made on a sample, examining all procedures associated with its testing from receipt through to the issue of a report) have not identified any problems. 

The laboratories are inspected annually by the National Measurement Accreditation Scheme (NAMAS) and for conformity to GLP. Part of the inspection is a vertical audit, which involves tracing a sample from the moment it is dehvered to the laboratory to when the result is reported. All the records of its passage through the system are traced. For... 

Mana ment review Quality assurance Quality audit Quality manager Quality manual Technical manager Vertical audit... 

A typical way to perform a quality audit is to select a group of samples that have been tested, follow their progress through each stage of the analytical process, including all aspects of the analysis from the receipt of the samples to the final report to the customer. This is called a vertical audit. 

The process for vertical audit described in Example 5.2 is an example of an audit trail. 

Figure 14.18 Vertical profiles of PON (A) audits 5 N ( ) in (A) Bay of Bengal (upper panels sampling period April-May 2003 Kumar etal., 2004) and (B) Arabian Sea (lower panels sampling period May, 1995 Montoya and Voss, 2006).

Look at a vertical slice where the arrangements to control a specific hazard, as in the case of fire, are audited in terms of the policy, organisation, planning and implementing, measurement and review processes in relation to fire safety management. 

---