Potato Review

www.potatoreview.com POTATO REVIEW JULY/AUGUST 2020 31 AUDITING recognise that technology is not something everyone is comfortable with and we have therefore trained our assessors and team members to help our farm members through the process. “If a problem occurs, you can bet that we have already prepared for it and have a solution.” e company delivers in excess of 30,000 audits a year across a range of farming and food businesses. Post-pandemic foresights SAI Global Assurance has said the responses it has received to conducting remote farm audits have been encouraging while the potential bene ts, both to address challenges presented by the current crisis, and signi cant potential for future use, are evident. While remote audits continue, the company states the role of technology is undoubtedly critical and all parties require a What if I don’t have sucient connectivity? Your auditor can help you set up a test call in advance to evaluate what the connectivity levels are like and if signal is lost a recorded video can be captured during the audit instead and played back to the assessor once a good connection has been established. Online portals can allow you to upload documents beforehand at a time, but if you do opt to live share and connectivity is an issue, documentation may be needed to be shared via email as a last resort. How long will my assessment take? e live streamed element of the assessment is typically shorter than a physical assessment when documents have been uploaded secure online portal in advance. A fully-streamed audit should take about the same amount of time as a physical assessment. Will my information be secure? Data security is taken very seriously. Online storage and livestreaming is encrypted and any documentation shared with assessors over email will be deleted immediately once reviewed by the auditor. How are non-conformances being handled? Non-conformances are raised in the normal way and signed reports emailed to the site – with either a signed copy or acknowledgement or agreement email returned to the NSF o ce. e auditor will guide the farmer through these steps. Have there been any teething problems and have they been addressed? Anita says NSF has completed 1,000 audits and the vast majority have been successful. Some initial issues with connectivity have been worked through and NSF continues to collect feedback to support farmers. clear understanding of the remote process and scope. It believes the longer-term question, as we emerge from the crisis, will be to identify the right balance between physical and remote audits. “Remote audits have several signi cant bene ts. ey eliminate the costs of physically sending auditors to a site – and as technology develops, they can deliver increasingly accurate re ections of the audit site’s condition,” the company states, pointing out that they are highly exible and can be scheduled quickly in response to problems or to assess a supplier for initial listing before incurring the expense of a physical audit in remote locations. Adopting remote auditing as a regular part of the supply chain management process also allows programmes to continue despite barriers such as travel restrictions and social distancing. If the global ‘new normal’ retains such restrictions, then remote auditing has the potential to become an essential longer-term option, it points out. But it strongly believes in the role of a physical audit’s face-to-face interaction and information-gathering in the future. “Remote auditing can provide an alternative to physical audits and help the industry through the COVID-19 pandemic,” a company statement reveals. “Its full measure of success will be the extent of its permanent introduction into supply chain management as a regular complement to physical audit. It’s likely by then to have earned its place as a regular part of the auditor’s toolkit.”