Within the scope of auditors’ responsibilities, some issues require careful and competent addressing from the perspective of the harms and benefit dichotomy. Performing revisions and verifications of financial records and statements, an auditor engages in close cooperation with auditees to present the best solution to the identified problems by minimizing the risk of harm to their business. Good auditors, as well as food physicians and scientists, are particularly concerned with the safety issues, which drive their competency development. As Pain (2018) states, auditors have to possess a set of competencies that ensure their clients’ safety and the overall success of the endeavor. In this paper, these considerations of particular competencies will be reviewed and compared with the competencies of scientists and physicians of the early safety movement.
A good auditor must have a high level of expertise in the auditing field, as well as possess a good command of problem-solving, communication, risk-managing, and ethical conduct. According to Pain (2018), an auditor must have extensive experience in auditing practices to be able to meet the needs of the clients. A professional is responsible for judging the situations with diligence and care to ensure that the best solution is found. At the same time, options should be envisioned to ensure that the same outcome might be achieved through various routes that might be applicable to a particular situation.
Similarly to the competencies described by Pain (2018), physicians and scientists participating in the early stages of safety movements also had to conduct according to some basic guidelines. Indeed, the relationship between an auditor and auditees is very similar to the relationship between a physician and patients. Therefore, the similarities between the competencies these professionals must have are observable. They include ethical conduct, vigilance, integrity and discretion, diligence, open-mindedness, evidence-based practice, and interpersonal skills.
Like auditors, physicians and scientists must be confident that their practice implies no harmful intentions for those who are being served. As research shows, human errors are the most common cause of the disruption in safety (Lark et al., 2018). Therefore, the competencies of professionalism, diligence, integrity, and evidence-based practice are prioritized in both domains. Also, communication and accountability are considered important competencies for healthcare providers, while similar competencies of ethical conduct, vigilance, interpersonal skills, and discretion are considered core for good auditors (Lark et al., 2018). Indeed, when dealing with a health problem or disease, a physician must ensure that the solution in the form of treatment he or she proposes in the most effective and safe for the patient, taking into consideration the patient’s current condition. In the same manner, an auditor is accountable for assessing the current situation the served client is in and propose the best solution to their problems based on the knowledge and experience they possess. The ability to communicate the options and necessary actions with patients or auditees also requires an equal level of development of interpersonal skills in both physicians and auditors.
Conclusively, the competencies characteristic to good auditors have multiple similarities with the competencies applicable to the physicians and scientists who supported the early days of the safety movement. Ethical, diligent, and discreet conduct is required to minimize harm and ensure safety. The same purpose is served by professionalism, evidence-based practice, accountability, and integrity. Since both healthcare and auditing deal with people’s interactions, interpersonal and communicative skills predetermine the success of the efforts and the safety of the served population.
References
Lark, M. E., Kirkpatrick, K., & Chung, K. C. (2018). Patient safety movement: history and future directions. The Journal of Hand Surgery, 43(2), 174-178.
Pain, S. W. (2018). What makes a good auditor. In Safety, health and environmental auditing (pp. 22-23). CRC Press.