ISO 45001:2018 Lead Auditor
Lead first, second and third-party audits of occupational health and safety management systems
- Duration
- 40 hours
- Modules
- 11
- Final exam
- 75% to pass
- Certificate
- 36 months
- Lifetime access to the course and your certificate
- Verifiable Certificate of Completion. Certificate valid for 36 months.
- 3 exam attempts, 90 minutes each
- Progress saved to your account on every slide
- The full course, every module, quiz and the final exam, is available in Spanish. Choose your language inside the course at any time.
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About this course
A lead auditor plans the audit, builds and directs the team, reaches conclusions that stand up to scrutiny and recommends whether a certificate should be granted, continued or withheld. This course prepares you to do that for occupational health and safety (OH&S) management systems audited against ISO 45001:2018, including Amendment 1:2024 on climate change.
You start inside the certification system: accreditation and certification bodies, ISO/IEC 17021-1 and the OH&S competence rules in ISO/IEC TS 17021-10, IAF MD 22 on OH&S certification and audit time under IAF MD 5. You also see where the revision of ISO 45001 stands: a new edition is expected in 2027, followed by a transition period. Three modules then revisit clauses 4 to 10 from the lead auditor's seat: hazard identification and risk assessment, legal requirements, worker consultation and participation, the hierarchy of controls, management of change, contractors and outsourcing, emergency preparedness, compliance evaluation and incident investigation.
Shared modules cover audit principles, the audit programme, the audit process, leading the team, nonconformities and root cause, and reporting and follow-up. The capstone module deals with the situations that define third-party OH&S auditing: a stage 1 usually done at least partly on site, stage 2 planning by OH&S risk with the interviews IAF MD 22 requires, multi-site and temporary site sampling, auditing legal compliance without acting as a regulator, what to do when you see imminent danger, and integrated audits with ISO 9001 and ISO 14001.
Scenarios throughout are set at metal fabrication plants, warehouses and multi-site groups, and each asks you to decide, grade and report as a lead auditor would.
This course teaches auditing of a management system. It is not OSHA training and does not satisfy any OSHA training requirement. On passing you receive a PlanetISO Certificate of Completion; certification bodies and personnel certification schemes apply their own auditor qualification processes.
What you will be able to do
- Explain the roles of accreditation bodies, certification bodies and IAF mandatory documents, and the OH&S competence requirements of ISO/IEC TS 17021-10.
- Apply IAF MD 22 and IAF MD 5 to plan stage 1, stage 2, surveillance and recertification audits of an OH&S MS, including audit time, required interviews and temporary sites.
- Evaluate the adequacy and consistent application of an organization's methods for context, scope, worker consultation and participation, hazard identification, risk assessment and legal requirements.
- Plan risk-based sampling of operational controls, management of change, contractor controls and emergency arrangements, and verify them at the point of work on every shift.
- Audit the evaluation of compliance and management's knowledge of compliance status without acting as a regulator, and handle a discovered breach or imminent danger correctly.
- Evaluate incident investigation and corrective action for worker participation, causes beyond the individual and use of the hierarchy of controls.
- Lead an audit team, manage conflict and time, and reach graded conclusions including systemic findings and certification recommendations.
- Explain Amendment 1:2024 and the expected transition after the revision of ISO 45001, and write reports that support the certification decision.
Course outline
- 1
ISO 45001:2018 overview for lead auditors
The certification landscape, the OH&S competence rules in ISO/IEC 17021-1 and ISO/IEC TS 17021-10, IAF MD 22 and audit time under IAF MD 5, Amendment 1:2024 on climate change and the revision expected in 2027.
About 50 minutes, then a module quiz
- 2
Clauses 4 to 6 for lead auditors
Context, scope, leadership, worker consultation and participation, hazard identification, legal requirements and objectives audited at system level: is the method adequate, consistently applied and preventing injury and ill health?
About 55 minutes, then a module quiz
- 3
Clauses 7 and 8 for lead auditors
Support and operation sampled where the risk is: competence and awareness, communication, the hierarchy of controls, management of change, procurement, contractors and outsourcing, and emergency preparedness.
About 55 minutes, then a module quiz
- 4
Clauses 9 and 10 for lead auditors
Performance evaluation, evaluation of compliance, internal audit, management review, incident investigation and corrective action audited for reliability: can the certification body rely on this system between visits?
About 55 minutes, then a module quiz
- 5
Auditing fundamentals
What an audit is, the principles that make it credible, and what ISO 45001:2018 requires of internal audit at clause 9.2.
About 40 minutes, then a module quiz
- 6
Managing the audit programme
Establishing and running an audit programme under ISO 19011 clause 5, and how certification bodies plan audits of a occupational health and safety management system under ISO/IEC 17021-1.
About 50 minutes, then a module quiz
- 7
The audit process
Planning, preparing, conducting and closing an audit of a occupational health and safety management system, step by step, with the evidence-gathering techniques auditors rely on.
About 55 minutes, then a module quiz
- 8
Leading the audit team
What the audit team leader is responsible for before, during and after an audit of a occupational health and safety management system, including auditing top management and handling difficult situations.
About 50 minutes, then a module quiz
- 9
Leading third-party OH&S MS audits
Stage 1 and stage 2 for an OH&S MS, the interviews IAF MD 22 requires, multi-site and temporary site sampling, auditing legal compliance without acting as a regulator, imminent danger seen during an audit, integrated audits and the transition expected after the 2027 revision.
About 60 minutes, then a module quiz
- 10
Nonconformities and root cause
How to recognise, grade and write a nonconformity, and how to judge whether the corrective action under ISO 45001:2018 clause 10.2 has dealt with the cause.
About 45 minutes, then a module quiz
- 11
Audit reporting and follow-up
Writing a report people act on, verifying corrective action, closing findings, and turning audit results into input for management review at clause 9.3.
About 35 minutes, then a module quiz
Final examination and certificate
40 questions drawn from the course bank. Score 75% or higher to receive your Certificate of Completion.
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