Just before the closing meeting of a third-party audit, the audit team leader is invited to a meeting with the EMS Manager.
He tells the audit team leader that a member of the audit team was seen taking videos on the factory floor using his mobile phone and wants him suspended from the closing meeting with any nonconformities raised by him rescinded.
When asked about this, the auditor said that he had obtained permission from the Production Manager who was escorting him around.
Select three options of how the audit team leader might respond to the EMS Manager.

• A. State that he will find out from the team member if the taking of videos was a routine method for him to gather evidence.
• B. State that the auditor will take no further part in the audit and all his videos will be deleted immediately.
• C. Insist that the nonconformities must stand since there is clear evidence from other sources apart from the videos.
• D. Inform the EMS Manager that auditors take videos for their report to help management understanding at the closing meeting and that they will be deleted after the audit.
• E. Advise the EMS Manager that the auditor was given permission by the Production Manager and that he will delete the videos immediately after the closing meeting.

You have been nominated as audit team leader for the second recertification to ISO 14001 of ABC, a public transport organisation in a big city. The audit is planned to take place in two months.
The audit program manager asks you to review the answer provided by ABC to a nonconformity raised by another auditor during the last surveillance audit carried out eight months ago.
The nonconformity reads as follows:
*"ABC does not always communicate its relevant environmental requirements to external providers.
Evidence: A two-month contract signed with a new external provider of the maintenance for ABC's buses did not contain any relevant environmental requirements."* Which two would you consider to be the best corrective actions from ABC?

• A. We revised the procurement process.
• B. We retrained procurement personnel on the ISO 14001 requirements.
• C. We identified environmental aspects related to the external provider's activities.
• D. We asked the EMS to include this issue in the next internal audit.
• E. We will discuss the issue during the next management review.
• F. We revised the contract to add the relevant environmental requirements.

A small services organisation has been contracted to handle the disposal of waste for a local hospital. You are an auditor conducting a Stage 2 audit of the care home to ISO 14001. You are reviewing the contract with the Service Manager (SM). An addendum to the contract only requires that biological waste is disposed of in the most environmentally friendly way, without reference to any regulatory requirements.
You: How was the waste disposal plan for the contract developed?
SM: We have a basic template that covers the materials, labour requirements and methods to be employed.
Some of that is specified by the contractor.
You: How does the plan deal with specific items like biological waste, which are included in the contract and can pose biological hazards to the environment?
SM: The basic plan covers general waste, but we have an addendum that covers biological waste.
You: Are you aware of the regulatory requirements for waste disposal standards in hospitals?
SM: Yes but we depend on the contractor to look after that side of things.
You raise a nonconformity against section 8.1.d of ISO 14001.
At the Stage 2 closing meeting of the audit, the EMS Manager objects to the nonconformity raised and asks for it to be withdrawn. He insists that they meet all the regulations.
Choose one of the options that the audit team leader should take in response to the request.

• A. Advise that the nonconformity will be reconsidered after the meeting.
• B. Confirm that it is a valid nonconformity supported by a lack of evidence for meeting the requirement.
• C. Offer to downgrade the nonconformity to an opportunity for improvement if the organisation can prove its compliance with regulations.
• D. Consult with the auditor who raised the nonconformity and ask whether he will agree to withdraw it.

You are conducting a Stage 2 certification audit of Fitalot, a pharmaceutical organisation manufacturing vitamins and other healthcare medicines. In a separate area at the centre of their large site, a supplier produces oxygen that is piped directly into the manufacturing processes of Fitalot. They also deliver oxygen in bulk tankers to other customers. When you review the environmental aspects register, you find that the only environmental aspect recorded for this arrangement relates to the heavy goods vehicles of the supplier transiting the site.
You ask the EMS Manager about the environmental consequences of this arrangement for Fitalot and are told that they are not significant, since the supplier provides its own services for water, sewage, waste, and energy.
The EMS Manager tried unsuccessfully to communicate with the supplier, who is located inside the Fitalot site. He said they were outside the scope of the EMS and therefore never audited.
After gathering more evidence, you note down findings against several clauses of ISO 14001. Determine which three of the findings stated are major nonconformities.

• A. The contractors environmetal policy is not consistent with the organisation ' s policy (Clause 5.2)
• B. The EMS Manager had some problems communicating with the supplier by mobile phone as an interested party. No other methods of communication were employed. (Clause 7.4.3)
• C. Evidence was found to indicate that the needs of some interested parties had not been considered by the organisation. A neighbour ' s interests had not been identified. (Clause 4.2.b)
• D. The environmental manager did not visit the oxygen supplier (Clause 7.4.3)
• E. The internal audit programme does not cover the on-site supplier. (Clause 9.2.2)
• F. Documentation of environmental impacts was missing for the supplier of oxygen. (Clause 6.1.2)
• G. The organisation has failed to include in the EMS scope the activities, products and services associated with suppliers and contractors performing their activities on its own site. (Clause 4.3)
• H. The environmental aspects related to the use of heavy goods trucks were not identified. (Clause 6.1.2)