Free PECB ISO-14001-Lead-Auditor Practice Exam with Questions & Answers

An organisation has ISO 14001 EMS certification from a third-party certification body. Which one of the following represents an advantage of having accredited certification?

Which one of the following options describes the main purpose of a Stage 1 audit?

Showitoff is an organisation specialising in the design and production of wall decorating materials for the domestic market. During an ISO 14001 certification audit of the site, the auditor comes across an open, walled area just outside the maintenance department. It contains various scraps of wood and metal as well as several rusty components. They are lying on an oily floor. When asked about it, the EMS Manager states that he presumes that the materials come from maintenance work.

The auditor interviews the Maintenance Manager in his department. He notes that shelves containing various spares are well labelled and neatly stacked. He asked about the "dump" outside and is told that it contains some excess materials that the Manager likes to keep in case they come in handy at some stage. The auditor points out that the "dump" might be classed under regulations as a landfill site, which requires an operating licence. The Maintenance Manager is not aware of such a licence.

The auditor decides to review the process for evaluation of compliance with environmental regulations in more depth.

Select three options that provide a meaningful audit trail for this process.

Which one of the following options best describes the main purpose of a Stage 2 third-party audit?

ABC is a large lubricant oils manufacturer located in country A. Due to tax exemption and other economic issues, they decided to move the whole plant to a neighbouring country B. They moved every single piece of the plant (equipment, systems); the new plant has the same layout, the same dimensions, the same suppliers of raw materials and the same customers. Even more, most personnel accepted to move to country B.

They operate a third-party certified EMS; the certificate was transferred to the new plant after a half-day audit from the certification body. You are auditing ABC's EMS in the new location, representing ABC's largest customer. When interviewing the Environmental Manager (EM), you ask:

You: Can I see the plan you developed to keep under control the impact of the EMS due to the change of site?

EM: We listed all elements and processes of the EMS that might need to be changed and selected those that we considered needed a careful review and probably a revision.

Below you will find that list; select six that you consider will need to be revised.

A group of 22 Italian restaurants in downtown San Francisco (US) established an EMS following the requirements of ISO 14001. You are performing an internal audit before the fourth certification cycle. The audit plan included an audit of the General Manager (GM) as the last interview before the closing meeting. During the interview with the GM, you audit clause 10.3 (Continual improvement). The dialogue is as follows.

You: Could you please tell me how did you improve the EMS to enhance environmental performance (Clause 10.3)?

GM: One way to improve the EMS is to improve one or several of its processes. We decided to improve the water-consuming processes in all our branches. We use water in many of our processes (e.g. to wash our kitchens, our cutlery, plates, and glasses, to keep our floors clean). The idea was to review these processes in detail to reduce the amount of water used per customer. Each of the 22 branches sent us their results, we analysed the data and found out that the average water consumption per customer was reduced by 13%; therefore, we improved our environmental performance. We are happy about that.

You: What about the results in each branch?

GM: Have a look at this table:

Analysing this table, what would be your decision related to raising nonconformities to clause 10.3? Select two.

Which one of the following conclusions in the audit report is not required by the certification body when deciding to grant certification?

Considering the requirements of clauses 6.1.2 and 6.1.4 of ISO 14001:2015, put the actions in the correct order to complete a process/task.

A multi-level shopping centre is open every day to the public from 09:00–21:00 hours. During an external audit of the centre to ISO 14001, you establish that there are 40 vending machines that are permanently switched on. Thirty of them do not sell perishable foodstuffs. You also note that there are eight escalators in the complex that run constantly during public access. When asked about environmental performance improvement objectives, the Centre Manager says that there are plans to increase the natural daylight by installing more skylights thus saving on lighting costs, but the estimated budget for this has not yet been approved by the board.

You: I note that energy consumption is a significant environmental aspect in the centre. How do you mitigate the impacts of this?

EMS Manager: We try to reduce our energy costs by negotiating a better deal from the energy company. We are considering changing to one that only supplies electricity from renewable sources.

You: What steps have you taken to reduce overall consumption?

EMS Manager: We conducted awareness training for staff. For example, turning off lights in staff areas not being used.

You: I see that the escalators account for the highest usage of energy. Are there any objectives to try and reduce this?

EMS Manager: No, it would be too costly to change them.

You: How do you measure electricity consumption?

EMS Manager: We have meters installed in each floor of the centre. We take readings every hour and we plot the consumption graph for every staff shift.

You continue the interview and find that energy consumption has increased steadily over the past five years. Select the two statements that are true.

Sparkle is an organisation that provides mobile car cleaning services at customers' premises. It has been certified to ISO 14001 for some time and has appointed a full-time Environmental Management System Manager. The audit plan during a surveillance audit includes continual improvement and the auditor asks to see the most recent management review meeting minutes.

The minutes indicate that the Environmental Management System Manager reported that the last review of the organisation's environmental legislation register was made three years ago instead of annually as planned in the Environmental Management System. At that time, he asked for finances to employ a legislation expert to update the register but was denied the request by top management on the basis that it was unlikely that many changes to legislation had occurred. No related improvement actions were documented in the minutes.

Based on the scenario, select the two options which best describe the evidence for raising such a non-conformity.