ISO Auditing Courses

ISO 14001:2015 Environmental Management Systems Lead Auditor

About This Course

CQI/IRCA Accredited

This course is conducted via SGS Singapore. All instruction and examinations are in English.

The aim of this course is to provide students with the knowledge and skills required to perform first, second and third party audits of environmental systems against ISO 14001, in accordance with ISO 19011 and ISO/IEC 17021 (as applicable).

ISO 14001 sets out the criteria for an environmental management system. It does not state requirements for environmental performance, but maps out a framework that a company or organisation can follow to set up an effective environmental management system. It can be used by any organisation that wants to improve resource efficiency, reduce waste and drive down costs. Using ISO 14001 can provide assurance to company management and employees as well as external stakeholders that environmental impact is being measured and improved. ISO 14001 can also be integrated with other management functions and assists companies in meeting their environmental and economic goals.

ISO 14001 with its main aim to assist companies in continually improving their environmental performance, whilst complying with any applicable legislation. Organisations are responsible for setting their own targets and performance measures, with the standard serving to assist them in meeting objectives and goals and the subsequent monitoring and measurement of these.

Learning Objectives

Knowledge

Explain the purpose of an environmental management system, of environmental management systems standards, of a management system audit and third-party certification, and the business and societal benefits of improving environmental performance.
Explain the role and responsibilities of an auditor to plan, conduct, report and follow-up an environmental management system audit in accordance with ISO 19011 and ISO/IEC 17021 as applicable.

Skills

Plan, conduct, report and follow-up an internal audit of an environmental management system to establish conformity (or otherwise) with ISO 14001, and in accordance with ISO 19011 and ISO/IEC 17021 as applicable.

Learner will need to demonstrate acceptable performance and pass the written examination in order to complete the course completely.

Benefits

The standard can be applied to a variety of levels in the business, from organizational level, right down to the product and service level. Rather than focusing on exact measures and goals of environmental performance, the standard highlights what an organization needs to do to meet these goals.

ISO 14001 is a generic management system standard relevant to any organisation seeking to improve and manage environmental resources more effectively. This includes:

single site to large multi-national companies
high risk companies to low risk service organizations
manufacturing, process and the service industries; including local governments
all industry sectors including public and private sectors
original equipment manufacturers and their suppliers.

ISO 14001 was developed primarily to assist companies with a framework for better management control that can result in reducing their environmental impacts. In addition to improvements in performance, organizations can reap a number of economic benefits including higher conformance with legislative and regulatory requirements (Sheldon 1997) by adopting the ISO standard.

Entry Requirements

Before starting this course, participants are expected to have the following prior knowledge:

a) Management Systems

The Plan, Do, Check, Act (PDCA) cycle
The core elements of a management system and the interrelationship between top management responsibility, policy, objective, planning, implementation, measurement, review and continual improvement.

b) Environmental Management

The intended outcomes of an environmental management system:

Enhancement of environmental performance
Fulfilment of compliance obligations
Achievement of environmental objectives

c) ISO 14001

Knowledge of the requirements of ISO 14001 and the commonly used environmental management terms and definitions, as given in ISO 14001, which may be gained by completing an IRCA certified EMS Foundation Training course or the equivalent.