Skip to content

Audit template in the LeanSuite app

Last reviewed

ISO 14001 internal audit checklist

An ISO 14001 internal audit checks your environmental management system clause by clause, from context and leadership (clauses 4 and 5) to performance evaluation and improvement (clauses 9 and 10). This template has 23 questions under the seven clause headings of ISO 14001:2015, written as plain checks rather than the standard's own text. Use one record per clause or process audited, on the dates your audit programme sets.

An internal auditor trained on the standard and independent of the area being audited runs it. What a finding looks like: a legal register not updated after a new permit condition, objectives with no plan or owner, an aspects register that misses a new process, or a corrective action closed with no check that it worked. Record the evidence for each Yes as well, because the certification auditor will ask what you looked at.

What it is for, as built: Internal audit questions organised by ISO 14001 clause. Use it for your internal audit programme.

Use this template in LeanSuite

The full question list

The 23 questions in the audit

Every question is answered Yes, No or N/A. Each No is flagged and asks for a photo and a comment, so the finding arrives with its evidence.

Clause 4: Context of the organisation

  1. 1External and internal issues that affect the environmental system are identified
  2. 2The needs of interested parties are identified
  3. 3The scope of the environmental management system is defined and documented

Clause 5: Leadership

  1. 4Top management shows leadership and commitment
  2. 5The environmental policy is documented, communicated and available
  3. 6Roles and responsibilities are assigned and understood

Clause 6: Planning

  1. 7Environmental aspects are identified and significant ones are determined
  2. 8Compliance obligations are identified and kept up to date
  3. 9Risks and opportunities are addressed
  4. 10Environmental objectives are set with plans to reach them

Clause 7: Support

  1. 11Resources for the system are provided
  2. 12People are competent and aware of the policy and their role
  3. 13Internal and external communication is planned
  4. 14Documented information is controlled

Clause 8: Operation

  1. 15Operational controls are in place for significant aspects
  2. 16Life cycle thinking is applied where relevant
  3. 17Emergency preparedness is planned and tested

Clause 9: Performance evaluation

  1. 18Monitoring and measurement are carried out and recorded
  2. 19Compliance is evaluated at planned intervals
  3. 20The internal audit programme is followed
  4. 21Management review is held and recorded

Clause 10: Improvement

  1. 22Nonconformities are corrected and the cause is addressed
  2. 23Continual improvement is shown

Worked example, illustrative

A filled-in example

One section as it might be filled in on the floor, with every other section of the audit answered Yes. The place and finding are made up to show how the audit reads and scores.

Result: pass, 95.7% against a pass mark of 80

  • 23 questions, all of them count.
  • 1 answered No, so 22 of 23 are Yes: 22 ÷ 23 = 95.7%.
  • 95.7% is at or above 80, so the audit passes. The No still needs its fix.

What happened next: Environmental manager updated the register within two weeks and named an owner for permit changes, verified at the next audit.

Scored here as one point per question with N/A left out. In the app each answer carries the points set on the template, so change them after you clone it if your plant weighs some checks more.

ISO 14001 Internal Audit

Audit, as needed

Clause or process audited
Clause 6: Planning, paint shop

Clause 6: Planning

  1. Environmental aspects are identified and significant ones are determinedYes
  2. Compliance obligations are identified and kept up to dateNo

    Comment: Compliance register still lists the old air permit. New condition on VOC reporting from this spring is not in it and nobody owns the update.

    Photo attached to the No

  3. Risks and opportunities are addressedYes
  4. Environmental objectives are set with plans to reach themYes
Drawn from this template's own questions, not a screenshot of the app. Illustrative answers.

When to use it

  • When it is due on your audit programme, or after a change or a problem.
  • An auditor or leader answers each question from what they see, hear and read in the area.
  • Each record starts with: Clause or process audited.

How it is scored

The template is built with points per answer and a pass mark of 80. In this library every audit is set to pass at 80 and every inspection at 90. Each submitted audit shows its score and pass or fail, and every No is flagged with its photo and comment.

Change the points or the pass mark after you clone it. How rules and scoring work.

Read and print

More in environment and energy

All environment and energy templates

FAQ

ISO 14001 internal audit checklist: common questions

  1. As your audit programme sets it, usually so that every clause and every significant process is covered within each audit cycle, ahead of the certification visit. Bring one forward when a new permit or legal requirement arrives, a process or chemical changes, a spill or complaint happens, or a corrective action from the last audit is due to be verified.

  2. A trained internal auditor who does not work in the area being audited, so the findings are independent. They need to know the clause they are checking, the site's aspects and compliance registers, and how to ask for evidence rather than assurance. The environmental manager reviews the findings, and the process owner for each nonconformity agrees the corrective action.

  3. A failed audit means the system is not doing what the manual says: a register out of date, an objective with no owner, an emergency drill never run. Nothing is tagged out, but each No becomes a nonconformity with a root cause, an owner and a due date, and the auditor comes back to check the fix worked. In this template every No is flagged and asks for a photo and a comment, and an audit that scores under its pass mark of 80 is a fail.

  4. Keep the clause or process audited, the date, the auditor, the evidence looked at for every Yes (document numbers, records, who was interviewed), each nonconformity with its cause and corrective action, and the verification that closed it. The certification auditor will ask what you sampled, and the pattern across clauses tells management review where the system is weak. In LeanSuite each submitted audit is stored with its score, its pass or fail, and the photo and comment on every No.

  5. 23 questions in 7 sections: clause 4, clause 5, clause 6, clause 7, clause 8, clause 9 and clause 10. Every question is answered Yes, No or N/A.

Use this template in LeanSuite

It is ready in the Template Marketplace inside Lean Creator as “ISO 14001 Internal Audit”. Clone it into your plant, change any question, then schedule it to a person, role or asset with reminders. Auditors complete it on a phone or tablet, with photo evidence where required.

Not on LeanSuite yet? On a 90-day pilot our team sets up your account and digitizes the forms and checklists you use today, this one included.

Start a 90-day pilotBook a demo