Business entered the era of quality management, ISO accreditation, and the concept of systems auditing took hold. Systems auditing is the best tool we can use for ensuring that operators perform their functions and embrace their responsibilities properly. It is about reviewing the systems in place to ensure there is not a single point of failure. It is about heightening the awareness of companies, and particularly of Boards, of the necessity for such systems. Good systems produce good results.
Weak systems increase the likelihood of bad results.
In practice, we are finding that we are learning far more, as are the management teams who hold the responsibility. We don't hold hands. We also ensure that we sample an adequate number of results of the systems to validate their effectiveness. We encourage an adoption of a safety culture which ensures the defence mechanisms are in place to minimise failures. We audit the systems which create that culture.