If an auditor finds a problem, s/he will let the person being audited know immediately that a possible problem may exist. In NO case will the auditor ‘find a problem’ and not discuss it with the auditee ‘on the spot’. They always tell the auditee the suspected problem. Many registrars (registrars do *NOT ALWAYS* require this) will ask the auditee (or other company official present) to sign a statement of fact of what was found (statement of objective evidence). The auditee should know that signing the statement is NOT an admission of a problem. It is an agreement of facts found. Whether or not it is a problem is discussed during end-of-day and final review meetings.
If an auditor leaves your area and says nothing about a possible problem, you can be sure no problem(s) were found. Auditors do NOT report findings to management without discussing it with the personnel involved FIRST. There are no tricks. Nothing is ‘hidden’ until later.
