ENVIRONMENTAL AUDIT

ISO19011
„ Key principles

„ Audit team

„ Tools

„ Tips

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Key Principles

„ legal sensitivity
„ consistent & systematic
• interchangeable
• verified by “second opinion” auditor
• “workshop” meetings
„ supported by evidence

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Key Principles

„ Fair analysis
• no demonstration of expertise
• no getting even
„ Attitude
• “audit” = scary ; nonthreating
• “improvement” over “violation”
„ Systems, not Items
• not the deficient item is the key,
• but the root cause
• interactions between elements of the EMS

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AUDIT TEAM

„ required expertise
• team leader or lead auditor
• expert in activities to be audited
• expert in environmental legislation

„ number of team members

• typically 2 to 4
• parallel teams

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AUDITOR PROFILE

„ knowledgeable, skilled, experienced, exercise

confidentiality and discretion
„ courtesy (and openness and honesty)
„ show respect
„ communication skills
• ability to listen
• interview
• reporting
„ Objectivity
• internal sensitivities
• auditor sensitivities
„ Independence
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AUDITOR PROFILE

„ WORK EXPERIENCE :
• envir. science & technolgy
• technical and environm. aspects of operations
• envir. legislation, etc. / EMS, standards
• audit procedures, processes, techniques
„ EDUCATION :
„ TRAINING :
„ PERSONAL ATTRIBUTES & SKILLS :

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AUDITOR must comply with ISO19011 : EXTRACT

This includes as a minimum:

„ 4 years of appropriate work experience in environmentally
relevant activities (to be gained in: environmental science
and technology, facility operations, environmental
consulting, environmental engineering, or similar activities)
„ Knowledge of the standard and related audit experience.
This shall be gained in not less than 20 days of on-site
environmental auditing in a minimum of four different EMS
audits and include involvement in the entire audit process.
The training must be supervised by a lead auditor
„ Successful completion of an accredited EMS lead auditor
course and regular participation in formal training activities
arranged by S&SC.

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AUDIT TOOLS

„ checklists
• cfr. examples
• questionnaire (forwarded prior to the audit)
• Y/N versus open-ended versus score-questionnaires
„ topical outlines
• “reminder list” of topics
• list based on regulation

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 Prepare Audit Plan
Competence Analysis
objective, #mandays
AUDIT STEPS team

Site Notification
Announced audits

Kick-off meeting

Document Evaluation
Site visit
review EMS documentation
assess compliance to ISO14001

Debriefing Doc. Eval.

Prepare detailed audit programme

Verification of Implementation
Follow-up Doc. Eval.
assess implementation
Interactive debriefing session

Reporting
evaluation of Corr. Act.
to the Certification Council
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PRIOR to the actual audit

A clear understanding is required of :

„ the client’s objective (ultimate goal, end-use of audit
reports, …)
„ the type of audit (certification vs. compliance vs.
acquisition)
„ the set of criteria (legislation, group guidelines, …)
„ the exact scope of the audit (incl. or excl. a shared waste
water treatment plant, or landfill, ...)
„ and possibly a brief site description and activities.

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KICK OFF MEETING

A kick-off meeting is organised in which :

„ The team is introduced
„ The objective is repeated to ensure a common
understanding
„ The confidentiality agreements are repeated
„ The scope is clearly defined, both organisational and
geographical
„ The audit program is discussed
„ The audit methodology is explained
„ The post-audit aspects and follow-up is communicated
(incl. company's top management ?)
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DOCUMENT EVALUATION

„ assess compliance with standard-requirements

„ gain sufficient insight into the EMS (to further plan audit)
„ assess the organization’s preparedness for certification
„ at the applicant's location

„ debrief

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 example of audit programme (Ver. Impl.)

4.3.1

4.3.2

4.3.3
4.3.4

4.4.1

4.4.2

4.4.3

4.4.4

4.4.5

4.4.6

4.4.7

4.5.1
4.5.2
4.5.3

4.5.4
4.2
opvolging Doc. Eval.
ARCO 2
AWZI X 14 15,16 X 27, 28
XXXXXXXX X X 17 25
brandweer 21 X 27, 28
Directie X 10, 11
Externe X X X 14 20
XXXXXXXX X 15,16 25
Garage X 14 25
XXXXXXXX X X 25 X
kantine X X X
XXXXXXXX X X X X
XXXXXXXX X X X
Kwaliteit X X 27, 28
MICO 1, 3, 4, 5, 7 8, 29 9 8, X 15,16 23, 24 X
opslag chemicaliën 12, 13 22
Personeel X 12, 13 25
technische dienst 6 2 12, 13 14 15,16 18, 19 23 X 27, 28
XXXXXXXX 26
intern beraad
debriefing
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VERIFICATION OF IMPLEMENTATION

„ follow up Doc. Eval.

„ assess effective implementation of EMS

„ debrief

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 1 OVERVIEW..............................................................................................................
1.1 CONTENTS..........................................................................................................
1.2 ANNEXES ............................................................................................................
1.3 DISTRIBUTION. ....................................................................................................
AUDIT REPORT 2 INTRODUCTION .....................................................................................................
2.1 AIMS CERTIFICATION AUDIT (PHASE 1+2) ..............................................................
2.2 OBJECT OF CERTIFICATION ..................................................................................
2.3 AUDIT DOCUMENTATION .......................................................................................

„ confidentiality 3 REPORT PHASE 1 OF CERTIFICATION AUDIT...................................................

3.1 AIM PHASE 1 ......................................................................................................
„ traceability 3.2 AUDIT TEAM ........................................................................................................
3.3 TIME DISTRIBUTION PHASE 1 ...............................................................................
3.4 PERSONS INTERVIEWED IN PHASE 1 .....................................................................
„ adequate support of findings 3.5 FINDINGS PHASE 1 ..............................................................................................
3.6 OBSERVATIONS PHASE 1 .....................................................................................
„ no opinions or judgement 3.7 CORRECTIVE ACTION REQUESTS PHASE 1 ............................................................
4 INTERMEDIATE ACTIONS TAKEN BY THE COMPANY......................................
„ understandable 4.1 POST PHASE 1 ACTIONS TAKEN BY THE COMPANY .................................................
4.2 CLOSE-OUT FIRST CORRECTIVE ACTION REQUESTS BY AUDIT TEAM ........................
„ accuracy 4.3 CONCLUSION PHASE 1.........................................................................................
5 REPORT PHASE 2 OF CERTIFICATION AUDIT...................................................
„ feed back (interactivity and 5.1 AIM PHASE 2 .......................................................................................................
5.2 AUDIT TEAM ........................................................................................................
debriefing) 5.3 TIME DISTRIBUTION PHASE 2 ................................................................................
5.4 PERSONS INTERVIEWED IN PHASE 1 .....................................................................
5.5 FINDINGS PHASE 2 ..............................................................................................
5.6 OBSERVATIONS PHASE 2 .....................................................................................
5.7 CORRECTIVE ACTION REQUESTS PHASE 2.............................................................
6 OVERVIEW CORRECTIVE ACTION REQUESTS .................................................

7 FINAL CONCLUSION BY AUDIT TEAM ................................................................

7.1 CONCLUSIONS ....................................................................................................
7.2 RECOMMENDATION .............................................................................................

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 PROCEDURES

„ conform procedures
„ = recommendation
„ supervised (C.B.)
„ audited (A.B)

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