CQI/IRCA EMS Lead Auditor case studies
CQI/IRCA EMS Lead Auditor · Put your knowledge to work in context.
The CQI/IRCA Environmental Management Systems (EMS) Lead Auditor credential is a professional qualification for people who plan, lead and report audits of an organisation's environmental management system. It is typically pursued by internal auditors moving into lead roles, environmental and HSE practitioners, consultants, and third-party auditors who need to demonstrate competence against internationally recognised auditor criteria. The CQI/IRCA EMS Lead Auditor case studies are 5 cases and about 4,699 words.
1The diesel tank that scores twelve
A galvanising plant with 260 staff has held ISO 14001 certification for six years. Its aspect register scores 62 aspects as likelihood (1–5) multiplied by severity (1–5), with 15 or more treated as significant.
977 words, about 5 min2Fixed audit days, a familiar face, and a 24-hour plant
A certification body runs the EMS audit programme for a waste-to-energy operator with three sites, each with one incinerator line operating 24 hours in three shifts. The three-year programme, approved by the technical manager, allocates a fixed 1.5 auditor-days per site per surveillance audit regardless of headcount, tonnage, number of permits or nonconformity history.
889 words, about 4 min3Three requests two weeks before the stage 2 audit
Two weeks before a stage 2 EMS certification audit at a printing company, the HSE manager sends three requests. First, the audit criteria should be "the corporate EHS standard and our main customer's supplier code, instead of ISO 14001".
943 words, about 5 min4Fourteen drums, one sentence from a supervisor
During the site tour at a food-processing plant, the auditor sees 14 unlabelled 200-litre drums behind the effluent plant. The shift supervisor says they are "empty and rinsed, waiting for the contractor".
907 words, about 5 min5"One clause, we'll fix it in a week"
At the closing meeting of a surveillance audit at a chemical distribution site, the lead auditor issues one major nonconformity: the site has not evaluated its compliance with a new national chemical storage regulation in force for five months, and 3 of 20 sampled safety data sheets are out of date. The site manager disputes the major: "it's one clause, we'll fix it in a week", and asks the auditor not to raise it because a tender closes in six weeks and the certificate is a condition of bidding.
983 words, about 5 min