Enhancement of Corporate Operational Excellence Management System Audit Protocols to Drive Audit Consistency

摘要

This paper discusses how Chevron enhanced its corporate Operational Excellence (OE) Management System auditing protocols to enable more effective auditing and drive audit consistency. Auditing protocols had been in place, but the protocols lacked sufficient direction and proper balance of interviews, field observations and document review. With the corporate audit program involving more operating and technology company shared auditors, the need to provide auditors specific direction was critical. Chevron’s corporate OE audit protocols were enhanced to facilitate effective evaluation of OE process design and effectiveness and drive consistency from audit to audit. An enhanced protocol design format was developed to provide auditors more specific direction regarding process requirement verification and enable effective audit documentation. Internal and external auditing subject matter experts were engaged to develop and validate a protocol framework and format for identifying auditor expectations in all audit phases. Workshops including process subject matter experts and experienced auditors were held to develop the appropriate protocol content. Protocols were vetted by communities of practice and approved by corporate HES management prior to use. Revised protocols addressing twenty corporate, upstream and downstream OE processes are now in use. The key components of the protocols are the Indicators of Conformance (actions, information or documentation to confirm process requirement conformance) and Verification Activities (specific actions by the auditor to verify Indicators of Conformance). Other enhancements included pre-audit expectations, process performance objectives, key audit contacts, and audit percent of effort guidance. The revised protocols have been well received and are considered a significant advancement in OE audit performance. As auditors adapt to protocol workflow, corporate OE audits are becoming more efficient, effective and consistent in assessment of process conformance. The OE audit protocol format can provide the basis for auditing HES regulatory compliance and management performance requirements throughout all company audit tiers. The enhanced OE audit protocol is a single platform for providing audit criteria and guidance and enabling audit documentation. Further enhancement is possible to support pre-audit data gathering and regulatory testing, and the protocol is adaptable to audit-related data management systems.