Audit Trail
Definition
A chronological record of system activities, decisions, and data changes that provides documentary evidence of the sequence of events that have affected a specific operation, procedure, or artifact. In asset integrity management, the audit trail records who made what change, when, why, and with what authorization, creating an unbroken chain of evidence for regulatory compliance and forensic investigation.
Context
Reliatic's audit trail is implemented as an immutable audit log with cryptographic hash chains, ensuring that records cannot be modified or deleted after creation. This is critical for regulatory compliance (for example PSM) and for demonstrating the basis of integrity decisions during incident investigation or regulatory audit.
Examples
- The audit trail for a risk acceptance decision shows: initial risk assessment (engineer, date), risk acceptance request (supervisor, date, justification), approval (plant manager, date, conditions), and each subsequent review (quarterly, by reviewer, with findings).
- An incident investigator traces the audit trail for a failed equipment item to determine when the last inspection occurred, what the findings were, what actions were taken, and who approved the continued operation decision.
Applicable Standards
- ISO 27001
- 29 CFR 1910.119
Related Terms
A data record that cannot be altered, deleted, or overwritten after creation. Immutable records use mechanisms such as cryptographic hash chains, append-only storage, and database-level enforcement (triggers and policies) to ensure that historical data integrity is preserved. Any correction to an immutable record is made by creating a new record that references and supersedes the original.
Governance EventA discrete, auditable event in the lifecycle of a governed artifact (asset, risk, MOC, inspection) that records a decision, approval, status change, or significant action. Governance events capture who did what, when, why, and with what authorization. They form the backbone of the audit trail and provide the evidence chain for regulatory compliance.
Compliance EvidenceDocumentary proof that an organization's practices conform to applicable regulatory requirements, industry standards, or internal procedures. Compliance evidence includes inspection records, test certificates, calibration records, training records, approval documents, audit reports, and any other documentation that demonstrates conformance to a specific requirement.
Where this appears in Reliatic
This concept is used in the Governance module.