​Flying is reportedly a 100 times safer way to travel than driving a car. Over the past 5 months two flights involving different operators using the same Boeing 737 Max 8 aircraft crashed killing all on board. This is shockingly unexpected from an aircraft that has been in service for 3 years and for an industry which prides itself on having a great safety record.
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​How could this possibly happen?

D​id you find it difficult to keep up with your schedule for planned management system audits last year?

Are you auditing the same procedures time after time?

Is the number of findings decreasing each time you audit?

​If you answered yes to at least one of these questions, then it may be that you are a slave to your audit schedule and stuck in the compliance audit trap.

​You conduct regular internal audits to make sure that everyone is following procedures that keep people safe and products working correctly. These internal audits are necessary to

• comply with your own policies,
• demonstrate that you are acting responsibly, and
• meeting the requirements of the internationally recognised ISO management system standards.

While everything may appear to be fine, you can be stuck in the compliance audit trap without even being aware of it.

If you are still compliance auditing your procedures, then it is time to throw away your compliance audit checklists. You need to

• schedule your internal audits around processes based on risk, and
  
• focus your auditors on lowering risk and improving your business.

Have you ever been driving and arrived at your destination not being able to remember anything about the journey? I have and it happened to me again recently. I wondered whether I had obeyed all the road rules. Had I stopped at stop signs and for pedestrians waiting at crossings? Was I courteous to other road users who were around me? I didn’t know. Not being sure whether I should be concerned, I set about digging into just how safe we are when we are on ‘auto-pilot’ and not consciously aware of what we are doing.