IA202605 — Performance Evaluation¶
Audit Record
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Audit reference | IA202605 |
| Area audited | Performance evaluation — monitoring, measurement, analysis, internal audit and management review |
| Audit criteria | ISO 9001:2015, ISO 14001:2015 and ISO 45001:2018 clauses 9.1, 9.2 and 9.3 · SOP 6.1, 6.2, 6.3, 6.4 · SOP 3.4 |
| Audit date | 04/05/2026 |
| Auditor | Sean Ashton, HSQE Consultant, Onyx Operations Ltd |
| Auditees | Aaron Mason (Director), Leanne Mason (Director) |
| Result | Conforms. 0 non-conformities, 1 observation |
| Previous audit of this area | IA202505, 2025 cycle |
| Form | FORM_INTAR001 Rev 1 ID 01/09/2025 |
1. Scope, criteria and independence¶
1.1 Scope¶
What AMWS measures, how it analyses what it measures, how it audits itself, and how the results reach top management.
Clauses examined: 9.1.1 general, 9.1.2 in both its forms — customer satisfaction under ISO 9001 and evaluation of compliance under ISO 14001 and ISO 45001 — 9.1.3 analysis and evaluation, 9.2.1 and 9.2.2 internal audit, and 9.3 management review. Clause 9.3 is examined here at the level of whether performance information reaches the review; the review itself is audited in full at IA202613.
1.2 Independence¶
The auditor is an external HSQE consultant engaged through Onyx Operations Ltd. He is not an employee of AMWS and holds no line responsibility for the work audited. SOP 6.2 requires that an auditor does not audit work for which they are also responsible; AMWS has no second competent auditor, and the consultant drafted much of the documented system. The mitigation applied is that no document is tested against its own wording. Each clause is tested against records, against what the people responsible describe doing, and against what can be produced on request. Findings are reviewed and countersigned by a Director, who holds the authority to accept or reject them.
This audit covers clause 9.2, under which the auditor's own programme falls. The arrangement above is the arrangement being audited, and it is recorded in section 3.3 rather than assumed.
2. Method and sample¶
| Method | What was covered |
|---|---|
| Document review | SOP 6.1 Analysis & Evaluation Issue 3 (01/05/2026) · SOP 6.2 Internal HSQE Audits Issue 3 · SOP 6.3 Site HSQE Inspections & Tours Issue 3 · SOP 6.4 Management Review Issue 3 · SOP 3.4 Setting & Reviewing HSQE Objectives Issue 3 · MAN_01 Rev 3 (30/04/2026) sections 8.1 to 8.3 |
| Registers examined | APP_11 HSQE Objectives & KPIs at Issue 2 · APP_20 Internal Audit Programme at Issue 2 · APP_21 Nonconformity & Corrective Action Register at Issue 3 (approved 04/05/2026) · APP_22 Accident Statistics at Issue 2 |
| Records sampled | The minuted management review of 27/09/2025 · the four internal audits completed in the current cycle to date, IA202601 to IA202604 · the six corrective action reports raised in the current cycle, CAR-2026-001 to CAR-2026-006 · the twenty-three corrective action reports from the 2025 cycle |
| Interview | Both Directors, on what performance information they receive, how often, and what they do with it |
Each register is cited at the issue it stood at on the audit date. The 2026 annual reissue of several registers falls after this audit and is not relied on.
3. Result against each clause¶
3.1 Clause 9.1 — Monitoring, measurement, analysis and evaluation¶
| Clause | What the standard requires | Objective evidence examined | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 9.1.1 General | Determine what needs to be monitored and measured, the methods, when it is performed and when results are evaluated; retain documented information as evidence | SOP 6.1 Issue 3 sets the standing dataset and the cadence: "A M Water Services analyses HSQE performance data continuously to identify trends and improvement opportunities." MAN_01 Rev 3 section 8.1 assigns it: "The Supervisor collects and analyses performance data, reporting to Directors monthly and feeding into Management Review." Measures are held against named objectives in APP_11, each with a target and an owner. SOP 6.3 Issue 3 adds the active half: "A M Water Services performs scheduled HSQE inspections and Director Site Tours as the active-monitoring half of the performance evaluation cycle (the audit programme under SOP 6.2 being the formal half)." | Conforms |
| 9.1.2 (ISO 9001) Customer satisfaction | Monitor customers' perception of the degree to which their needs and expectations have been fulfilled, and determine the methods for obtaining and using that information | SOP 2.1 Issue 3 names the channels: "A M Water Services monitors customer satisfaction continuously through structured feedback channels: client meetings, monthly KPI reporting, calls and emails from customers, and any formal complaints (which route via SOP 7.1)." The measure is carried in APP_11 as complaints per thousand, with a target of fewer than two, and the 27/09/2025 review minuted performance against it. The position is sustained zero formal complaints. What is not yet in place is a positive-signal method — see OBS-01 | Conforms — see OBS-01 |
| 9.1.2 (ISO 14001 / 45001) Evaluation of compliance | Establish, implement and maintain the processes needed to evaluate fulfilment of compliance obligations, and retain documented information of the result | The legal register is the instrument and carries a dated verification: every citation was verified against legislation.gov.uk and regulator sources on 24/04/2026, and that date is carried on the majority of entries as their last-assessed date. The 27/09/2025 review recorded the evaluated position: "Full compliance maintained with all applicable legal requirements... Legal compliance remains exemplary with zero enforcement actions or breaches." Examined in depth at IA202615 | Conforms |
| 9.1.3 Analysis and evaluation | Analyse and evaluate appropriate data and information arising from monitoring and measurement | SOP 6.1 Issue 3 sets the window: "Trend analysis covers rolling 12 months minimum." Analysis output was traced into the 27/09/2025 review, which evaluated each objective and recorded a conclusion on each rather than tabling raw figures | Conforms |
3.2 Clause 9.2.1 — Internal audit, general¶
| Requirement | Objective evidence examined | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Conduct internal audits at planned intervals to provide information on whether the system conforms to the organisation's own requirements and to the standards, and is effectively implemented and maintained | The programme at APP_20 plans sixteen audits across the system in a rolling annual cycle. Four had been completed by the audit date — IA202601 Context & Leadership (28/04/2026), IA202602 Planning (29/04/2026), IA202603 Support (30/04/2026), IA202604 Operations (01/05/2026) — each on FORM_INTAR001, each with a stated scope, and each producing a result. Audits test the system against both its own documents and the clause requirements | Conforms |
3.3 Clause 9.2.2 — Internal audit, programme¶
| Requirement | Objective evidence examined | Result |
|---|---|---|
| a) Plan, establish, implement and maintain an audit programme, including frequency, methods, responsibilities, planning requirements and reporting, taking into account the importance of the processes and the results of previous audits | APP_20 holds the programme with an area, a clause scope, an auditor and a date against each audit, across a rolling cycle. Each 2026 report records the result of the prior year's audit of the same area and carries forward anything left open, so previous results feed the next cycle | Conforms |
| b) Define the audit criteria and scope for each audit | Each report on FORM_INTAR001 states its criteria and its clause scope before the findings. Tested across the four reports completed to date | Conforms |
| c) Select auditors and conduct audits to ensure objectivity and impartiality | Audits are conducted by an external consultant engaged through Onyx Operations Ltd, who is not an AMWS employee and holds no line responsibility for any area audited. Findings are reviewed and countersigned by a Director, who is the authority for accepting them. SOP 6.2 Issue 3 states the internal rule as "An auditor must not audit work for which they are also responsible (have authored, designed, supervised or implemented)". AMWS is a company of about twenty people with no second competent auditor, and the consultant is the author of much of the documented system. The method applied in compensation is that documents are not tested against their own wording: each clause is tested against records, against practice, and against what can be produced on request. The arrangement satisfies the requirement; the procedure's wording describes a larger organisation than AMWS and is addressed in recommendation 2 | Conforms |
| d) Ensure the results of audits are reported to relevant management | Each report is issued to and countersigned by a Director and reported at the weekly compliance call. Audit results are a standing input to the management review, evidenced in the 27/09/2025 minutes: "All 16 internal audits completed successfully, demonstrating more thorough programme than previous year." | Conforms |
| e) Take appropriate correction and corrective action without undue delay | Every observation raised in the current cycle was converted to a corrective action report on FORM_CAR001 on the day of the audit, each with a named owner and a target date — CAR-2026-001 to CAR-2026-006 at the audit date. Examined in full at IA202614 | Conforms |
| f) Retain documented information as evidence of the implementation of the programme and the audit results | The reports and the corrective action reports are held as controlled records, and the register at APP_21 is generated from them. Twenty-three reports from the 2025 cycle and six from the current cycle were available and examined | Conforms |
3.4 Clause 9.3 — Management review, as an output of performance evaluation¶
| Requirement | Objective evidence examined | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Performance information reaches top management for review at planned intervals | SOP 6.4 Issue 3: "A M Water Services holds a formal Management Review of the Integrated Management System at least annually." The 27/09/2025 review took objectives, audit results, compliance, supplier performance and customer satisfaction as separate minuted inputs and recorded a conclusion on each. Audited in full at IA202613 | Conforms |
4. Findings¶
4.1 Non-conformities¶
None.
4.2 Observations¶
| Ref | Clause | Observation | Owner | Target | Corrective action |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| OBS-01 | ISO 9001 9.1.2 | Customer satisfaction is monitored through complaints, framework continuity and client contact, which between them evidence the absence of dissatisfaction rather than the presence of satisfaction. The generic survey planned in the 2025 cycle has not been issued. AMWS's customer base is concentrated in a small number of framework clients, so a short structured question set put to the client project manager at handback would produce higher-signal data than a broad survey instrument | Aaron Mason | 30/09/2026 | CAR-2026-006 |
4.3 Status of the previous audit of this area¶
IA202505 raised one observation on customer satisfaction measurement, carried as CAR-2025-007. It is rolled forward into CAR-2026-006 rather than closed, because no feedback mechanism has yet been issued. The 2025 recommendation for heavier statistical analysis is not carried forward; at AMWS's data volumes, honest measurability serves the clause better than statistical treatment of small numbers.
5. Conclusion¶
Performance evaluation conforms to clause 9.1, 9.2 and 9.3 of all three standards. Measures are defined against named objectives with targets and owners. The internal audit programme is planned, is running to plan, states its criteria and scope for each audit, produces reports that reach top management, and converts every finding into a tracked corrective action on the day it is raised. Compliance is evaluated on a dated basis and the result is recorded.
One observation was raised, on the method of obtaining customer perception rather than on whether customer signals are monitored.
6. Recommendations¶
- Put a short structured question set to the client project manager at handback on the next several framework jobs, and close CAR-2026-006 on the returns rather than on the question set.
- Align the wording of SOP 6.2 on auditor independence at its next issue with the arrangement AMWS actually operates — an external auditor with no line responsibility and Director acceptance of findings — so that the procedure describes the control in place rather than one that assumes a second internal auditor.
- Keep the practice of recording each register at the issue it stood at on the audit date, which makes the evidence trail testable after the fact.
7. Sign-off¶
| Role | Name | Position | Signature | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Auditor | Sean Ashton | HSQE Consultant, Onyx Operations Ltd | S. Ashton | 04/05/2026 |
| Reviewed and accepted | Aaron Mason | Director | A. Mason | 04/05/2026 |