10.16 AUDITING AND CONTINUAL IMPROVEMENT
An organization's RF safety program and its RF Radiation Safety Plans must evolve with the installations and work they govern. Transmitters, antennas, software, access arrangements, maintenance activities, contractors, personnel, and regulatory requirements can all change. Without systematic monitoring and review, an approved arrangement can cease to represent the actual RF environment.
Auditing provides evidence about whether the program and applicable Plans have been implemented as intended and whether their controls remain effective. It is not merely a document check or a demonstration prepared for a regulator.
RPS S-1 requires the risk-management process to include monitoring and review of controls to confirm both that they were implemented as planned and that they remain effective. Audits, inspections, reassessments, worker consultation, incident learning, and management review are complementary parts of that process.
10.16.1 Objectives Of Auditing
An RF safety audit should determine whether:
- the RF safety program and applicable RF Radiation Safety Plans are current, approved, and in scope;
- hazards, people, tasks, source states, and reasonably foreseeable changes remain identified;
- exposure and risk assessments remain valid for the present installation and operating conditions;
- engineering and administrative controls are implemented, maintained, tested, and effective;
- safe work, access, isolation, permit, and emergency procedures are followed and workable;
- training, competence, exposure classification, supervision, and authorization remain appropriate;
- records and controlled documents are complete, current, protected, and available at the point of work; and
- legal, regulatory, standards, reporting, and corrective-action requirements are being met.
The audit should evaluate both technical compliance and management-system effectiveness. It does not replace a required exposure reassessment, control test, inspection, or incident investigation.