Validated Assessment Program (VAP

Audit quality and integrity is a top priority for the RBA, its members and their customers. The RBA met with experts in law enforcement, non-governmental organizations, and audit quality organizations to develop our VAP Integrity Assurance Program, which we rolled out in 2021. As part of this program, there are multiple integrity tests that could be applied to an audit to verify, to the best of our ability, the information provided in the final report. Some of the tests utilized by RBA staff include:

Semi-Announced Audits and Shadow Audits

For high-risk audits, the RBA may shadow an audit with or without prior notification to the auditor or the auditee. The shadow audit is outlined in the Operations Manual and is used as an oversight mechanism and auditor training tool. Shadow audits have a report of the auditor’s performance at the end, complete with a score. Depending on the score, the auditor could be required to take training to improve the quality of the audits.

Double Quality Check

A Double QC may be conducted after the final audit is complete. This could be done on an audit that receives a Platinum Recognition, or scores higher than the average audit score of the country, or for a high-risk site. During the double QC process, at least three pieces of evidence are selected by the Director of Audit Quality and acquired from the auditee, then a member of the QC team reviews the three pieces of information and cross-checks it with the data points in the audit reports.

Audit Score Alert

The RBA has built-in notifications if an audit score is unusually high for the region where the audit was conducted. If an audit scores above the average for the region an alert is sent to the Director of Audit Operations to review the audit. If the audit score is significantly above the average, a notification is sent to the VP of Operations to review the audit. This ensures that audits with statistically higher scores than average for the region are reviewed to ensure the audit score is reflective of the site’s performance.

Audit Scorecard

Starting in 2022, each audit is given a score that rates the quality, time and professionalism of the auditor. Specific items rated include but are not limited to: on-time arrival by the auditor, correct VAP protocol applied, accurate assignment of severity to non-conformances, and meeting or exceeding the audit cycle time SLA. Each quarter, the auditor data is aggregated and provided to the audit firm as part of the Quarterly Business Review. Audit firms are also stack-ranked for quality and shown their place in the ranking.