Benefits and potential in becoming an ISO 9001 Lead Auditor

What is ISO 9001?

Lead Auditor Course?

The ISO 9001 lead auditor training is a five-day training course and it includes an exam at the end to verify the knowledge and competence of the attendee. The course will target understanding the ISO 9001 quality management system standard and using the ISO 9001 standard for auditing management systems to evaluate company processes against these requirements.

The course can only be conducted by a company that itself has been certified to present an ISO 9001 lead auditor course, and it is only with a certified course that a participant can be awarded certification as an ISO 9001 Lead Auditor. After this, it is attainable to be hired by a certification body (companies that can provide ISO 9001 certification to companies) to audit a company’s Quality Management System against the ISO 9001 standard. This course is often used by implementers of ISO 9001 in order to learn more about the standard and to find out the criteria that will be used by the certification bodies.

What does the Lead Auditor course look like?

The ISO 9001 lead auditor training will take five days. Courses are usually run in English, but also can be found in local languages, so you must check in which languages courses are run. If a course is delivered in a language other than your mother tongue, you should be able to speak and write in an efficient manner.

Courses comprise theoretical issues, discussions between delegates and between tutors and groups, personal workshops, continual assessment from tutors on each delegate, and written exams. When you successfully qualify for the written exam you will be awarded the ISO 9001 certificate which, besides other information, displays your name and has an IRCA logo.

Learning Objectives

Pre-requisites to attend this course:

• It is suggested that the students attending this course shall have adequate knowledge of ISO 9001 Standards and some prior knowledge of QMS auditing.
• It is also conveyed that no prior knowledge as above may lead to unsuccessful completion of this course and the gaps in this knowledge may not be covered during this course.

Who is Lead Auditor Training Designed for?

It is important to note that even though training times may vary from provider to provider, the content will stay very much the same. The reason for this is that lead auditor training is required for those who will become an auditor for the certification bodies that audit individual companies and certify that the QMS is in compliance with ISO 9001:2015. accredited by an oversight body that provides accreditation to auditors and certification bodies in the country where the training is provided.

So, the lead auditor training is basically designed for certification body auditors and will have this overall flavor of how to manage a large company-wide audit of all processes with many auditors, as opposed to a more spread-out audit program that might be found within an organization. The audit training will also include many formal elements, such as formal opening and closing meetings, which may not be practiced within a company. Training is not all that a certification body auditor needs (there is also an aspect of experience doing audits that are required), but it is one element that is needed.

Why might you benefit from lead auditor training as an internal auditor?

Even though lead auditor training is designed for those who are intended to be outside of a company, it can also benefit the internal auditors as well. Internal auditors still need to understand the ISO 9001:2015 requirements in detail, and the principles and practices of auditing are much the same for internal auditors. In addition, the training can give you an idea of how the certification body auditors that will be coming to your company were trained and how they have been instructed to audit.

However, the ISO 9001:2015 lead auditor course is much more expensive than the much shorter internal auditor course, so it is important that you will see benefits from the additional expense and time. Make sure that this is what you want, and need, before signing up.

Job opportunities

Now, having your IRCA certificate for ISO 9001, record(s) from the certification body that confirms your status of auditor and Lead Auditor, and your personal logs from audits, you are a complete and competent ISO 9001 Lead Auditor.

At this moment you may search for a job opportunity in order to become a full-time employed auditor. To conclude, This personal certification provides you with new knowledge, builds up your personal competence, and provides the possibility to have a new job opportunity.

ISO 9001 Internal Auditor Course

The ISO 9001 internal auditor training is commonly a
two- or three-day training course that is based on the ISO 9001 lead auditor training described above. The course does not include a test and does not lead to an individual certification to audit external companies; however, a
certificate of completion is presented.

ISO 9001 Implementation Courses Several training courses help individuals learn about ISO 9001 and how to implement it. Some examples are “ISO 9001 requirements,” “Understanding ISO 9001,” “Implementing ISO 9001” and “Essentials of ISO 9001.” These are often one- to two-day courses and some are available as online e-learning courses. These courses are also not applicable for certification. Click here, For more information on ISO training and Contact us for getting certified as an ISO 9001Lead Auditor or visit our ISO 9001 Lead Auditor frequently asked questions page!

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