ISO 9001 lead auditor

An ISO audit enables an organisation to gauge how far their achievements align with their objectives and demonstrate conformity to the standard. When certification bodies send audit personnel to examine the Quality Management System (QMS) based on ISO 9001: 2015, the process is handled by a lead auditor.

The role of a lead auditor is critical to the effectiveness of the QMS. Although, becoming a lead auditor can be an exciting achievement, there may be many questions about the process including the obstacles in your path. So, if you wish to advance in your career in auditing, but do not know how to navigate or choose your next move, this article will help you learn about the process of becoming an ISO 9001 lead auditor.

Additionally, this article will also provide information on the lead auditor training course objectives. Contact us for more information and to use ISO consulting services.

Key steps to become an ISO 9001 lead auditor

If you are thinking of advancing your auditing career and becoming a lead auditor, there are certain steps that you need to take. The steps for becoming an ISO 9001 lead auditor include:

Ensuring substantial prior experience

To acquire the role of an ISO 9001 lead auditor, it is necessary to acquire experience in a job that has responsibilities for understanding the QMS, including the possibility of performing internal audits of processes. This experience will aid you as an auditor in understanding different process implementation techniques. It is vital that you understand how processes work if you plan to perform process audits. Process audit specifies whether an organisation’s processes are working within defined limits.

Moreover, process audit measures if conformance is being achieved with respect to pre-defined industry standards and establishes any required controls. As a lead auditor, it is necessary to learn how to assess the entire process system instead of just focusing on the documentation.Reading the ISO 9001 Audit Checklist article can help you get more information.

Attend ISO 9001 lead auditor training

Partaking in ISO 9001 lead auditor training not only includes attending the sessions but also passing the lead auditor exams. The implication is that full attendance for the entire training period is mandatory. Oftentimes, the training lasts 4 to 5 days and any individual misses on any training will not be allowed to write the exams.

Clearing the course is a mandatory prerequisite to be considered for employment as a lead auditor by a certification body.

During an ISO 9001 lead auditor training program, the fundamental concepts and principles of QMS are explained, and individuals are taught to interpret the requirements from the perspective of an auditor to identify conformity in accordance with ISO /IEC 17021-1 requirements.

Find a certification body

Once you have met the above prerequisite, you can find a certification body that requires auditors. Here, it is important to remember that despite undergoing the lead auditor training programme, each certification body will have a separate training regime that you will need to complete.

This includes first observing models, and then becoming an audit team member, before becoming eligible to lead an audit as a lead auditor. Hence, it is important to get experience as a certification auditor before learning to lead the team as it may be different from any internal auditing that you may have done previously.

Components of the ISO 9001 lead auditor training

Most auditor training programs have a schedule for five full days, although some training programs’ duration may vary. Generally, the first two days of lead auditor training is dedicated to understanding each clause of the ISO 9001 standard, where the implementation of the clauses are explained in detail.

Auditors must adequately understand the clause to measure its effective implementation. The next two and a half days are focused on auditing techniques.

Candidates learn how to audit, including audit planning, audit preparation, opening meetings, conducting the audit, following the audit trail, conducting closing meetings, recording non-conformances, audit reporting and follow-up. The second portion of the training program includes role-playing exercises to give candidates some experience in auditing.

These exercises help candidates to see what it feels like to be an ISO 9001 lead auditor and identify some potential pitfalls. These exercises are based on the guidelines outlined in ISO 19011, a standard that provides recommendations for auditing management systems. The ISO 19011 standard contains the principles of auditing, guidance on managing an audit program and instructions to conduct management system audits.

Additionally, the standard also contains guidance on evaluating the competence of all individuals involved in the audit process, including members of the audit teams, auditors and the person managing the audit program. The final day of the ISO 9001 lead auditor training program will end with a test to demonstrate that the participants have understood the information presented, and will include practical questions like identifying a non-conformance from provided data and writing corrective actions.