AUDITS AND ASSURANCE

Know your risks are being managed with effective Operational Audits and an integrated Assurance Program.

SPAN's assurance services are risk-based, resource-optimized and aligned with stakeholder needs.

From field operations to the corporate office, SPAN’s integrated approach validates and verifies that operational performance is being achieved, risks are being mitigated and commitments are being met. Executives and Board Members demand clear line of sight into your organization. To meet this demand, SPAN designs, implements and embeds operational audit and assurance programs to ensure the right information is available for accurate reporting.

A cornerstone of any top performing company is the ability to verify operational performance and management system effectiveness over time and continually eradicate gaps in operational processes that can lead to failures. Advanced engineering and technology solutions are effective in preventing failures, but incidents do still occur. Major incident investigations continually identify that the root cause of incidents are often breakdowns in processes and human interactions over time.

Managing and reducing risk is a critical component of all organizations. An effective assurance program helps you identify risks and prevents failures from happening, or happening again in some circumstances. The most effective way to prevent incidents is to have the right mechanisms to identify and track areas of improvement. We help organizations leverage existing data, and set up systems to collect new data to manage risk, improve employee performance and drive continuous improvement.

“A number of past CSB investigations have found companies focusing on personal injury rates while virtually overlooking looming process safety issues – like the effectiveness of barriers against hazardous releases, automatic shutoff system failures, activation of pressure relief devices, and loss of containment of liquids and gases. Furthermore, we have found failures by companies to implement their own recommendations from previous accidents involving, for example, leaks of flammable materials.”
- Dr. Rafael Moure-Eraso, Chairperson, US Chemical Safety Board

 

SPAN'S AUDIT AND ASSURANCE SERVICES 

SPAN caters to every business' specific needs by tailoring one or more of the following services: 

  • Gap Assessments
  • Pre- and Post-Acquisition Assessments
  • Management System Audits
  • Regulatory Compliance Audits
  • Targeted Program Evaluations/Audits
  • Assurance Program Assessment, Design, Implementation and Management

SPAN can help you and your team work more efficiently to get results faster. Our Audit and Assurance experts help you:  

  • Discover where you have opportunities to improve productivity, quality and oversight, reduce costs, and drive growth
  • Align and integrate assurance activities across your organization
  • Identify low value or duplicated processes
  • Provide recommendations to redeploy resources pre- or post-acquisition
  • Incorporate and prioritize operational risk, compliance and due diligence obligations
  • Ensure responsibilities and accountabilities are clearly defined and that assurance quality is being achieved

Our Auditors are well versed in: 

  • Audit program standards, processes, procedures, training and competency requirements
  • Internal auditor training development and delivery
  • Annual audit scoping, planning, scheduling and resource estimating
  • Audit program oversight, support and review
  • Leading, coaching and supporting internal and external audit personnel

CONTACT US TO GET STARTED

 

THE RIGHT APPROACH, EXPERIENCE AND TOOLS TO DO THE JOB

SPAN's risk based and operational assurance approach, experience and tools have been built up over years of first-hand experience as internal audit group leads as well as through the provision of audit and consulting services.    

The Right Approach

Assurance Image

SPAN has honed its approach to operational assurance into a practical and efficient model for companies to use. SPAN’s philosophy is that assurance must be embedded into operations to extract the greatest level of value - ensuring all inspection, monitoring, assessment, and audit activities are identified, managed and working effectively.  

SPAN offers a flexible approach to conducting Gap Assessments identifying any assurance gaps and verifying they get addressed as part of the program design and implementation. Critical assurance practices that already exist throughout the organization should be identified and tested for effectiveness at providing reliable assurance. 

At the top of the assurance pyramid is the formal audit program that provides independent and objective management system and compliance assurance. These activities are very resource intensive and SPAN ensures they are designed and implemented in the most efficient manner, and confirms they are providing the Board and Executive team with the assurance they need.

 

The Right Experience

SPAN has decades of experience designing and implementing in-house assurance programs and conducting management system and compliance audits. Our team continuously learns and improves to stay at the forefront of emerging standards, regulations and techniques. Our clients benefit from our up-to-date learnings through the design and implementation of audit and assurance programs, auditor and specialist training, coaching, and other knowledge sharing activities.   

CONTACT US TO GET STARTED

The Right Tools

SPAN has extensive experience working on assurance programs for clients. We have proven methods and tools to leverage, including: 

  • Best practices and templates for assurance programs
  • Procedures
  • Checklists
  • Audit Protocols
  • Concordance mappings between multiple sets of standards and regulations   

Our tested and proven methods including our built in approaches based on extensive experience, allows us to work more efficiently and get results faster, all while maintaining the highest quality standard of care.

CONTACT US FOR MORE INFORMATION

Our assurance and audit services are flexible and efficient to cater to your needs. We have the right experience, approach, tools and certifications to enhance your assurance practices and help you drive continuous improvement.

Evan Baker, Assurance Practice Lead

What our clients say

"Our member companies were concerned that their information could be unsecure, and we were concerned we couldn't scale up our systems as our programs grow; we are solving both by implementing Octane."

VP Performance

Pipeline Association

"Thanks for all your help! I think [SPAN] did an excellent job and this was my best audit experience so far."

Supervisor, Leak Detection Systems

Midstream Pipeline Company

Case studies and resources

Plains All American Management System Implementation

Plains All American uses Octane to accelerate implementation of its API RP 1173 Pipeline Safety Management System.

Download Case Study



SPAN's Top 10 Gap Assessment Best Practices for API
RP 1173

We have created a list of best practices to make sure you get the maximum value out of your API RP 1173 Gap Assessment.

Read More



Whitepaper: Management System Auditing with ISO 19011:2018

Our Assurance Practice Lead Evan Baker provides insights into the updated auditing standard for Management Systems

Download Whitepaper

Whitepaper: Implementing API RP 1173 - How to get started

We have created this introductory Whitepaper to explain the basics of API RP 1173 and enable you to get started.

Download Whitepaper

A sample of our specialists

Evan Baker

Assurance Practice Lead | Senior Consultant

Evan Baker

Assurance Practice Lead | Senior Consultant

Evan Baker - Assurance Practice Lead, Auditor, Senior Consultant

 

Evan is SPAN’s Assurance Practice Lead, specializing in environmental, regulatory and assurance systems. He has worked in upstream and midstream oil and gas, pipelines, utilities, water and wastewater plants, rail, power plants, wind energy, and other high-risk industries in Canada, the US, Europe and South America.

 

Evan has extensive experience conducting EHS and other operational and management system audits and gap assessments, and developing and managing audit and assurance programs, management systems, environmental impact assessments and applications, and leading environmental teams, programs and projects.

Heather Donaldson

Consultant

Heather Donaldson

Consultant

Heather Donaldson - Consultant

 

Heather is an environmental professional with expertise in environmental assessments, project management and technical communications. She has worked on commercial, industrial, pipeline, midstream and upstream oil & gas projects throughout Western Canada.

 

Heather is a skilled coordinator, material developer, and communications specialist with experience in design and stakeholder support for management systems.

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