Journal of a social auditor provides the reader with human and social skills seldom mentioned in the technical literature. There is far more to the profession of auditors than mere numbers. To begin with the etymology, the word auditor comes from the Latin word audire, meaning to listen, an auditor’s key skill rarely referred to in textbooks.

It is challenging to ascertain the number of ISO 9001 and corporate social responsibility certified auditors, as no publication reveals this data. An assessment at the number of auditors estimates there are about 35,000 ISO 9001 and 5,000 CSR certified auditors around the world (source: 2020 senior auditing industry management). Throughout this work, ISO 9001 and CSR audits are referred to because they are my specialty and where I can speak from personal experience, although the advice herein applies to any auditor with specialized technical skills.

There has been an increased interest for ethical values and companies are now implementing ethics codes and codes of conduct, requiring their suppliers to respect them as well. Certifications such as BRCGS Global Standard for Ethical Trade & Responsible Sourcing are forcing employers to be considerate with their workforce now that social responsibility has made the employee a top priority.

Early 2020, for the first time in over a century, the world progressively experienced a pandemic. Entire countries became paralyzed by the coronavirus and went into lockdown. In Spain, where I reside, all audits were cancelled as the country closed its borders for fifteen weeks. Finally, given the time to go through notes and documents, I decided to write the book I myself looked for when I became an auditor, and never found.

Journal of a social auditor is a narrative of personal experiences over five years with examples spanning a range of industries. It is a compilation of lessons learned over hundreds of audit-days in the Americas and Western Europe. Each experience comes within a cultural context where a different language and set of work habits influence people’s perception of situations. Verbal and non-verbal communication, cultural traditions and customs vary by country, and an auditor must adjust accordingly in order to do effective work. I have gained cross-cultural experience and knowledge during my life by listening, observing, asking questions, and doing research on local traditions.

Anyone interested in the life of a traveling auditor or more specifically wishing to become an ISO, Ethics or CSR auditor is invited to read about this world in Journal of a social auditor. The reader may also be the auditor leaving family and home to spend days on the road; colleagues supporting them from the home office, planning and overseeing their work from afar; and the company or organization managers and supervisors who face audits in the context of their work.

Throughout this book, I reference a broad range of businesses that I visited, from slaughterhouses to food manufacturing plants, pharmaceutical and chemical plants, glass and plastic manufacturing facilities, French haute-couture fashion houses or human resources agencies. These companies employed anywhere from 20 to 4,500 workers and are just a few examples of the vast assortment of businesses an auditor may come across.

The privacy of companies and employees referenced in this work are protected. Their identity is not relevant: the interest stems from the situations emerging during audits and how my involvement as an auditor offers a look at industries that are otherwise out of the public eye.