ISO 14001 Environmental Management Systems Lead Auditor Environmental Management Systems, Auditing & Standards: practice questions

1 · ISO 14001: context, policy, planning, operation, evaluation, improvement · medium

Mapped onto plan–do–check–act, which ISO 14001 clauses correspond mainly to 'do'?

1. Clauses 7 and 8
2. Clauses 4 and 5, context and leadership
3. Clause 9, performance evaluation
4. Clause 10, improvement

2 · ISO 14001: context, policy, planning, operation, evaluation, improvement · medium

In ISO 14001:2015, which term replaced the separate terms 'documents' and 'records'?

1. Controlled forms
2. Evidence files
3. Documented information
4. Procedural manuals

3 · ISO 14001: context, policy, planning, operation, evaluation, improvement · medium

Which element must an environmental objective plan include under clause 6.2.2?

1. The price of the organisation's products in each export market for the year
2. A guarantee from the certification body that the objective will be achieved
3. What will be done, resources, responsibility, completion date and how results are evaluated
4. A statement that the objective is confidential and is not to be shared with staff internally

4 · Environmental aspects and impacts register · medium

An aspects register scores significance = severity × likelihood (each 1–5) with a threshold of 12. Slurry store overflow has severity 5 and likelihood 3; office paper use has severity 2 and likelihood 4. Which statement is correct?

1. Slurry overflow scores 8 and paper scores 15, so only paper is significant
2. Slurry overflow, at 15, is significant; paper, at 8, is not
3. Both score above 12, so both are significant under the stated criteria
4. Slurry overflow scores 8 and paper 6, so neither is significant

5 · Environmental aspects and impacts register · medium

What does the 'life cycle perspective' in ISO 14001 require when identifying aspects?

1. Completing an ISO 14044 life cycle assessment for every product the organisation sells in each of its markets every year
2. Ignoring purchased inputs and product disposal because they occur outside the site
3. Reporting only the aspects of the final product stage at the customer's premises
4. Considering aspects the organisation controls or influences upstream and downstream, without a full LCA

6 · Environmental aspects and impacts register · medium

Which data source is most useful for identifying aspects of a food processing line?

1. The company's advertising budget and its list of marketing campaigns for the year
2. The personal opinions of the managing director, collected without any site visit
3. An input–output balance of materials, energy, water, products, wastes and emissions
4. The share price history of the parent company over the last ten years

7 · Environmental aspects and impacts register · hard

A dairy scores aspects with severity × likelihood and treats 12 as the threshold. An effluent discharge subject to a permit limit scores 9. What is good practice?

1. Treat it as significant because it is subject to a legal requirement, and document this rule
2. Ignore it, because the numerical score is below the threshold and the score cannot be overridden
3. Delete it from the register so that auditors cannot question the score
4. Raise the threshold to 20 so that fewer aspects become significant

8 · Environmental auditing: types, process and auditor competence · medium

Which finding would a certification auditor normally grade as a major nonconformity?

1. One training record is missing a signature among many complete records
2. A waste label is faded but the waste is correctly segregated and recorded
3. The policy is displayed in one canteen but not in a second canteen
4. No internal audit of the EMS has ever been done

9 · Integrating environment with quality and safety management · hard

An ammonia leak in a food plant's refrigeration system threatens workers, nearby residents and product safety. What is the main advantage of handling it within an integrated management system?

1. Integration means the leak need not be reported to any regulator or authority
2. Integration transfers all responsibility for the leak to the certification body that issued the certificate
3. One risk assessment, emergency plan and investigation covering environment, safety and food safety together
4. Integration allows the plant to choose one discipline and ignore the others