PECB Updated ISO-14001-Lead-Auditor Exam Questions and Answers by rome

According to ISO 19011:2018 Clause 3.11 (Audit findings) and Clause 6.4.10:

Audit findings can be conformity, nonconformity, or opportunity for improvement.

A conformity simply confirms that the requirements have been met no further action is required from the auditee.

Nonconformities require corrective actions.

Opportunities for improvement may trigger voluntary action but not mandatory response.

Diverging opinions are handled during the audit but don ' t require post-audit response unless linked to nonconformity.

According to ISO 14001:2015 Clause 9.1.2 (Compliance Obligations) and Clause 7.4 (Communication):

The organization must retain evidence of compliance obligations and communications with regulatory bodies.

Verbal confirmation from the authority is insufficient; written confirmation ensures objective evidence for audit purposes.

The correct answers are A and B.

The nonconformity concerns ABC’s failure to communicate relevant environmental requirements to an external provider. This relates mainly to ISO 14001:2015 Clause 8.1 — Operational planning and control, which requires the organisation to ensure that outsourced processes are controlled or influenced and that relevant environmental requirements are communicated to external providers.

A. We revised the contract to add the relevant environmental requirements — Correct

This is the immediate correction. The specific contract that caused the nonconformity has been amended so that the maintenance provider receives the relevant environmental requirements.

B. We revised the procurement process — Correct

This is the stronger systemic corrective action. Revising the procurement process helps prevent recurrence by ensuring future contracts or purchasing arrangements include relevant environmental requirements before external providers are approved or work begins.

The other options are less suitable:

C may be useful background work, but it does not directly correct the failure to communicate requirements.

D is only a future discussion, not a completed corrective action.

E may help verify effectiveness later, but it is not the corrective action itself.

F may support implementation, but training alone is weaker than changing the process that allowed the omission.

Therefore, the best corrective actions are A and B.

The correct answers are A, B, D, E, F and H .

This question relates to ISO 14001:2015 Clause 6.2 — Environmental objectives and planning to achieve them , especially Clause 6.2.1 and Clause 6.2.2 .

For environmental objectives, the organisation must ensure that objectives are consistent with the environmental policy, measurable where practicable, monitored, communicated, and updated as appropriate. When planning how to achieve environmental objectives, the organisation must determine what will be done, what resources will be required, who will be responsible, when it will be completed, how the results will be evaluated, including indicators for monitoring progress, and how actions to achieve objectives can be integrated into business processes.

A. Who was responsible for the completion of the plan? — Correct

The action plan should identify who is responsible for achieving the objective.

B. Is it consistent with the environmental policy? — Correct

The objective and related action plan should support the environmental policy, such as pollution prevention, environmental protection, compliance obligations, and improvement of environmental performance.

D. How did you measure it? — Correct

The objective should be measurable where practicable. For waste separation, measurement could include quantities of paper, plastic, metal, and food waste separated, contamination rates, or disposal/recycling records.

E. Were actions integrated into the organisation’s business processes? — Correct

ISO 14001 expects the organisation to consider how actions to achieve environmental objectives can be integrated into business processes. For a library, this may include cleaning routines, waste collection contracts, staff instructions, signage, and user-facing waste segregation points.

F. Did you define any method for monitoring progress? — Correct

The organisation should determine how progress toward the environmental objective will be monitored, such as periodic waste checks, contractor reports, internal inspections, or monthly waste data review.

H. Did you estimate what resources would you need? — Correct

The action plan should identify required resources. This could include separate bins, labels, staff time, communication materials, waste contractor arrangements, or training.

The two options not selected are:

C. How was progress of the plan being monitored? — Not selected

This is very similar to option F , but option F is the stronger wording because it asks whether a method for monitoring progress was defined as part of the planning process.

G. Was it approved by the Director? — Not required

ISO 14001 requires roles, responsibilities, resources, monitoring, evaluation, and integration into processes, but it does not specifically require every environmental objective action plan to be approved by the Director.