Learn About the External Audit of the ISO 14001 Environmental Management Standard
This article explains the external audit that is a necessary step for the ISO 14001 certification and provides some useful tips to prepare for it.
External audits are a crucial phase in the ISO certification process regardless of the standard to be achieved. It is conducted in the last stage of the certification by an independent accreditation body. They have professional auditors who thoroughly assess the management system after it is implemented. Based on their assessment, they would conclude whether the system is ready to be certified. In short, an external audit evaluates the conformity of the management system with the given standard’s requirements. If you want to get the ISO 14001 environmental management system or EMS implemented in your organization for demonstrating the environmental responsibility and sustainability efforts of your business, then an external audit is a must. This article explains to you in detail about the external audit and tells you how you can pass it smoothly.
External Audit Procedure of the ISO 14001Environmental Management System
Once you have fully implemented an EMS by following the requirements of the ISO 14001 standard, it is time to initiate the certification process and that begins with preparation for external audit. The audit procedure would take place for one to two days or more, based on the size, complexities of processes, and structure of your business. For instance, if your business is spread across multiple locations, the auditors need to visit them all and that would take more days. Here are the steps to follow.
1. Selecting the Certification Body
For carrying out the external audit, first, you need to choose a reliable independent body. Once the body is selected, you can start preparing for the audit, discuss the different outcomes, and make plans to deal with each.
2. Phase 1 Audit
The chosen certification body would conduct the external audit of your EMS in two phases. In the first phase, the auditors would verify the entire structuring of the EMS and its documentation. They would evaluate everything to see if the scope of the EMS is in line with the context of your organization. After their initial evaluation, they would provide views about the EMS’s readiness for the next phase of the audit. They would also provide necessary suggestions that you should work on to improve the documentation or any aspect of the EMS structure.
3. Phase 2 Audit
In the second phase, the auditors would perform an on-site evaluation i.e., check through the implemented EMS and observe its effectiveness. They would interview the employees who directly undertake its functions to verify its competence. They would also enquire about the proposed objectives and intended outcomes of the EMS to ensure that they are met. Lastly, they evaluate to see if the EMS conforms to all the ISO 14001 requirements.
4. Results from the Audit
Once the audit is completed, the body decides whether the EMS implementation is correct, partially correct, or wrong. Accordingly, they would provide suggestions for the next steps. These are the three probable results you can get from the external audit.
• A negative report where all the nonconformities in your EMS are clearly mentioned. You’ll need to correct them as quickly as possible and schedule another audit. Certification would be provided after that audit.
• An affirmative report with few conditions or corrections mentioned. Therefore, you need to meet them or provide an appropriate action plan to get certified.
• An affirmative report where everything seems fine and conforms to the ISO 14001 standard and so you get the certification. After this, the auditors would visit annually to see whether the EMS remains compliant. You need to apply for certification renewal after every three years.
Helpful Tips to Prepare for the ISO 14001 External Audit
If you want the ISO 14001 certification, here are the tips to make sure your EMS is prepared for that.
• Do a thorough internal audit with the help of a third-party agency or alone to spot all the shortcomings and nonconformities and rectify them.
• Ensure that the top management team or seniors of your organization know about the audit, remain present during the entire procedure, and make employees aware of it.
• Keep all the documents related to EMS processes organized in one place so that the auditors can easily access them. Also, keep the terminology of the documentation as simple as possible.
• Plan for the actions and relevant methods to ensure continual improvement of the EMS and list them out properly to the auditors.
Key Takeaway
Since the external audit is a necessary process to establish a competent ISO 14001 environmental management system, start planning and preparing as early as possible. Apart from these tips, make sure you understand the ISO 14001 standard. You can also get support or consultancy from an external agency to understand its requirements and assure the conformity of the EMS.
Author Bio:
Damon Anderson is the head consultant and owner of an ISO certification agency that provides a range of certification assurance services to businesses to assist them to get certified. He is a dedicated ISO 14001 environmental management consultant and spends his leisure time writing articles on the standard, its importance in business, guides to achieve it ,and so on.
