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Scenario 3:
Fin-Pro is a financial institution in Austria offering commercial banking, wealth management, and investment services. The company faced a significant loss of customers due to failing to improve service quality as they expanded.
To regain customer confidence, top management implemented a QMS based on ISO 9001. After a year, they contacted ACB, a local certification body, to pursue ISO 9001 certification.
The audit team was led by Emilia, an experienced lead auditor, and included three auditors. After an agreement was reached, ACB sent the audit objectives to the audit team.
The audit team began by gathering information about Fin-Pro’s understanding of ISO 9001 requirements. While reviewing documented information, they noticed missing records of training and awareness sessions. They conducted employee interviews to verify attendance.
The team also reviewed the organizational chart and job descriptions to confirm employee competence. They observed the company’s working environment (social, psychological, and physical conditions).
The audit team analyzed the evidence and prepared an audit report with findings and conclusions.
What type of evidence has been collected by the ACB’s audit team, as presented in scenario 3?
In the context of a management system audit, identify the sequence of a typical process for collecting and verifying information. The first one has been done for you.
To complete the sequence click on the blank section you want to complete so it is highlighted in red and then click on the applicable text from the options below. Alternatively, drag and drop the options to the appropriate blank section.
Scenario 7: POLKA is a car manufacturing company based in Stockholm, Sweden. The company has around 14,000 employees working in different sectors which help with the design, painting, assembling, and test drives of the final product. The company is widely known for its qualitative products and affordable prices. In order to retain their reputation, POLKA implemented a quality management system (QMS) based on ISO 9001.
Before applying for certification, the company decided to conduct an internal audit to check whether there are any nonconformities in their QMS and if the requirements of ISO 9001 are being fulfilled. The top management appointed Sean, the internal auditor, as the team leader of the internal audit team. Sean required from the top management to have unrestricted access to the employees and executives of POLKA and to the documented information. Furthermore, Sean required to establish a team with a large number of auditors, considering the size and the complexity of the organization. The top management of POLKA agreed with Sean's requirements.
The top management, in cooperation with Sean, assigned 10 more employees to the audit team. Following that. Sean planned the audit activities and assigned the roles and responsibilities to each auditor. They began by interviewing employees of different manufacturing departments to check whether they are aware of the process of the QMS implementation. While conducting these activities, one of the auditors asked Sean for permission to audit the department in which he worked on a daily basis, as he was very familiar with the processes of the department.
Along the way, the teams findings showed that the staff were trained, documented information was updated, and the QMS fulfilled the requirements of ISO 9001. The internal audit took three weeks to complete, and on the last week the audit team held a final meeting
The team shared their results and together drafted the audit report This report was submitted to the top management of the company. The report was maintained as documented information, and was available to the relevant interested parties.
Based on the scenario above, answer the following question:
According to Scenario 7, one of the auditors requested permission from Sean to audit the department in which he worked on a daily basis. Should Sean grant the auditor permission?
You, as auditor, are in dialogue with the quality lead and managing director of a small business that supplies specialist laboratory equipment and furniture.
You: "I'd like to look at how you manage change in the organisation. What changes have you made as a
business, say, over the last 12 months?"
Auditee: "We have made some strategic changes, the main one being that we no longer manufacture our
own products in house."
You: "That sounds like quite a significant change. What has been the impact of that?"
Auditee: "We now mainly sell other manufacturers' products, under their brand names, and have outsourced
manufacture of our own brand products to one of our suppliers. Unfortunately, we had to make six members
of our staff redundant. This represents about 20% of our workforce, so this has been quite a challenging
time."
You: "I'm sure. What were the reasons for making the change?"
Auditee: "Our manufacturing section was a small operation, and we struggled to cope with fluctuations in
demand. During busy periods, we found it hard to meet lead times, and in quiet periods we had staff with
little to do. This was having an impact on customer satisfaction and meant we had to charge premium prices
that made our product uncompetitive."
You: "How did you go about the change?"
The auditor asks to speak to the purchasing manager about the selection of the subcontractor to
manufacture the company's own brand products.
You: "How did you choose a supplier to manufacture your products?"
Auditee: "We have had a long-term relationship with a supplier ABC Ltd - we gave them our design
drawings, got them to complete a supplier questionnaire and run a couple of trial batches for us. We were
happy with the result and we have used them ever since."
ISO 9001:2015, clause 8.4.1 outlines situations when controls need to be applied to externally provided processes, products and services. Which one of the following situations is applicable to this scenario?
You are preparing an audit plan for a third-party ISO 9001 audit of organisation ABC that extracts lithium from mines in Bolivia.
ABC’s head office is in Lima, Peru, and it outsources all processes related to Production, Maintenance, Procurement and Human Resources to local Bolivian companies. ABC personnel manage in Bolivia only the Planning function.
Your plan starts in Lima, then you decide to go to Bolivia and fly back to Lima to audit the Quality Function and Top Management and conduct the closing meeting.
What would be your best decision when planning the audit in Bolivia?
Scenario 4:
TD Advertising is a print management company based in Chicago. The company offers design services, digital printing, storage, and distribution. As TD expanded, its management recognized that success depended on adopting new technologies and improving quality.
To ensure customer satisfaction and quality improvement, the company decided to pursue ISO 9001 certification.
After implementing the QMS, TD hired a well-known certification body for an audit. Anne Key was appointed as the audit team leader. She received a document listing the audit team members, audit scope, criteria, duration, and audit engagement limits.
Anne reviewed the document and approved the audit mandate. The certification body and TD’s top management signed the certification agreement.
Before contacting TD, Anne reviewed the audit scope and noticed that TD made changes to it due to the adoption of new printing equipment. However, Anne disagreed with the changes, stating they would affect the audit timeline. She considered withdrawing from the audit.
In scenario 4, the audit team determined the audit feasibility by considering only the resources available for the audit. Is this acceptable?
You are carrying out an audit to ISO 9001 at an organisation which offers regulatory consultancy services to manufacturers of cosmetics.
You are interviewing the Technical Director (TD), who manages a team of regulatory experts responsible for providing regulatory services to customers.
You: "How do you ensure your regulatory team's competence concerning regulatory requirements is maintained?"
TD: "The two Regulatory Experts we employ full-time have years of experience of working in the cosmetics industry."
You: "How is their regulatory competence maintained?"
TD: "They are dedicated individuals with lots of contacts in the sector."
You: "How does the business enable them to maintain their understanding of current regulatory requirements?"
TD: "We leave that up to them."
A small deaning services organisation is about to start work on a hospital dleaning contract for the local Health Trust. You, as auditor, are conducting a Stage 2 audit to ISO 9001 and review the contract with the Service Manager. The contract requires that a cleaning plan is produced. You: "How was the cleaning plan for the contract developed?" Service Manager: "We have a basic template that covers the materials, labour requirements and cleaning methods to be employed. Some of that is specified by the customer." You: "How does the plan deal with locations like the intensive care wards and the operating theatres, which are included in the contract?" Service Manager: "The basic plan covers general wards, but we will do more frequent cleaning in those areas if the hospital requests it." You: "Are you aware of the regulatory requirements for cleaning standards in hospitals?" Service Manager: "No. We depend on the hospital to look after that side of things in the contract." You decide to raise a non-conformity against section 8.2.2.a.1 of ISO 9001. You decide to raise another non-conformity against section 8.2.4 of ISO 9001 when finding that the cleaning plan was amended without the agreement of the Health Trust. A different cleaning chemical was substituted to that specified in the contract. At the follow- up audit, the corrective action proposed was to "obtain a concession from the Health Trust for use of the new chemical." Which one of the following options is the reason why you did not accept this action taken?
Whistlekleen is a national dry cleaning and laundry company with 50 shops. You are conducting a surveillance audit of the Head Office and are sampling customer complaints. You find that 80% of complaints originate from five shops in the same region. Most of these complaints relate to damage to customer laundry. The Quality Manager tells you that these are the oldest shops in the company. The cleaning equipment needs replacing but the company cannot afford it at the moment. You learn
that the shop managers were told to dismiss most of the claims on the basis of the poor quality of the laundered materials.
On raising the matter with senior management, you are told that there are plans to replace the equipment in these shops over the next five years.
When reviewing the customer complaint file, you find that the organisation is facing a legal dispute with a customer over damage to an expensive cashmere coat.
Select the best option for how this should be handled by the Quality Management System.
At the end of an initial third-party certification audit, the audit team enters the closing meeting room to hold the closing meeting. Only two people are present and waiting for them, the Health and Safety Supervisor and the Administrative Officer. Neither has participated in the audit. However, the team had previously agreed with the auditee Quality Manager on a major non-conformity.
They said:
Health and Safety Supervisor says: "Good evening. We are sorry to inform you that the General Manager was convened by the CEO of the organization to analyze an unexpected, very serious situation with the personnel.
The Administration Officer: "Concerning the major non-conformity, the General Manager called us on the phone asking us to tell you that he agrees with the non-conformity and that the correction will be taken this week, and the corrective action is to be implemented before the end of this month. He also asked us to tell you that it would be a pity to postpone the recommendation for certification due to this ongoing issue that can be solved so easily. Do you want me to describe to you what he told me he would do?"
Which one of the following would be the correct response (as team leader) to the General Manager's request?
You work for an organisation, 'A', which provides packaged food to the public. You are asked to lead a team (you as the leader and two other
auditors) to audit a supplier, 'B', which provides packaging materials to your organisation. It is 4 p.m. and the audit is close to an end; you are having
an internal meeting with the team to decide what will be presented to the auditee during the Closing meeting. The Closing meeting was scheduled
for 5 p.m.
You, as audit team leader, audited top management, the laboratory, and the storage of raw materials.
Auditor 1 audited the two manufacturing lines and dispatch areas.
You to Auditor 1: "What findings would you report?"
Auditor 1: "When reviewing the Dispatch records, I noticed that during the morning two different trucks (Number 011 and 025) delivered the same
batch number of the product (Batch 33555). Truck 011 left the plant at 9.15 am and Truck 025 left the plant at 11.30 am. Procedure P-02 Rev.3 says
that trucks should carry a complete batch. The batch number, once on the truck, is captured using a QR device."
You: "OK, what do you think?"
Auditor 2: "I think that this is a nonconformity."
You: "OK. How would you describe the evidence on which the nonconformity will be based"?
Identify which one of the following statements best describes the identified nonconformity.
During an internal audit, a manufacturer of polystyrene packaging products for the electronics industry found that six per cent of finished products being ejected from the moulding machines fell onto the factory floor instead of into collection baskets. The factory floor was wet and dirty in places, so a lot of products were rejected at inspection. Auditors raised a non-conformity to the Maintenance Manager.
Select three options for the corrective action to be taken by the Maintenance Manager that could be needed to prevent rejects from recurring.
Whistiekleen is a national dry cleaning and laundry organisation with 50 shops. You are conducting a surveillance audit of the Head Office and are sampling customer complaints. You find that 80% of complaints originate from five shops in the same region. Most of these complaints relate to damage to customer laundry. The Quality Manager tells you that these are the oldest shops in the organisation. The deaning equipment needs replacing but the organisation cannot afford it now. You learn that the shop managers were told to dismiss most of the claims based on the poor quality of the laundered materials.
On raising the matter with senior management, you are told that there are plans to replace the equipment in these shops over the next five years.
Match the ISO 9001 Clauses to the statements.
In the context of a third-party certification audit, how can the auditor demonstrate confidentiality? Select two.
XYZ Corporation is an organisation that employs 100 people. As the audit team leader, you conduct a certification audit at Stage 1. When reviewing the quality management system (QMS), you find that the objectives have been defined by an external consultant using those of a competitor, but nothing is documented. The Quality Manager complains that this has created a lot of resistance to the QMS, and the Chief Executive is asking questions about how much it will cost.
Which two options describe the circumstances in which you could raise a nonconformity against clause 6.2 of ISO 9001?
Which two of the following may be changed once a Stage 2 certification audit has commenced?
Scenario 2:
Bell is a Canadian food manufacturing company that operates globally. Their main products include nuts, dried fruits, and confections. Bell has always prioritized product quality and has maintained a good reputation for many years. However, the company's production error rate increased significantly, leading to more customer complaints.
To increase efficiency and customer satisfaction, Bell implemented a Quality Management System (QMS) based on ISO 9001. The top management established a QMS implementation team comprising five middle managers from various departments, including Leslie, the quality manager.
Leslie was responsible for assigning responsibilities and authorities for QMS-related roles. He also suggested including a top management representative in the QMS team, but top management declined due to other priorities.
The team defined the QMS scope as:
"The scope of the QMS includes all activities related to food processing."
Leslie established a quality policy and presented it to the team for review before top management approval. Top management also proposed a new strategy for handling customer complaints, requiring biweekly customer surveys to monitor customer perceptions.
Which of the following indicates that Bell has defined its quality objectives?
(Which of the following two options could be considered the most likely potential threats to impartiality in an audit context?)
You are conducting a third-party audit to ISO 9001 and the next item on your audit plan is 'internal auditing'.
When reviewing a sample of audit records up to 5 years previously, you find that many contain non-conformance reports and no actions have been taken. You interview the Quality Manager.
You: "I have noted that many of the older files contain non-conformances that have not had any corrective action taken."
Quality Manager: "Because the business is always changing, the departmental managers tell me that the non-conformances are no longer applicable. I made a decision that any non-conformance over 3 years old is automatically closed"
You: "Do you obtain any confirmation beforehand from the appropriate departments that the non-conformances are no longer applicable."
Quality Manager: " No, because they are so old I consider that they are no longer appropriate. Please remember that we take a risk-based approach which means we audit where and when it is considered important to do so.
Select one course of action you would now take from the options.
You are carrying out an audit at a single-site organisation seeking certification to ISO 9001 for the first time. The organisation offers warehousing and export services to customers. Customers are invoiced for the time stock items are stored in the warehouse. Transport to and from the warehouse is controlled by the organisation and approved subcontract transport services are used. The organization does not have its own transport vehicles. Stock items are not purchased by the organisation.
You have gathered audit evidence as outlined in the table. Match the ISO 9001 Clause 8 extract to the audit evidence.
ISO 9001 is based on quality management principles. Match each of the following quality management principles to the related activity.
The following are stages of an audit, put them in the order they would be conducted.
Select six tasks you would expect to be completed at the audit team meeting of a third-party audit team leader and his audit team in preparation for a Closing meeting for a four-day initial certification audit.
An internal auditor of a manufacturer of polystyrene packaging products for the electronics industry raised a nonconformity against section 10.3 of ISO 9001 in Report IA202. The nonconformity (NC 3) stated:
"The reject rate of the finished product of 9.7% needs improvement as it doesn't meet the stated objective of top management of 5%."
As the third-party auditor reviewing the internal audit process, you come across the nonconformity. For corrective action, the Quality Manager conducted an investigation into the reject rates. He reported that the collection baskets for products ejecting from the moulding machines were not large enough. About 6% of products fell onto the wet and dirty factory floor. Management stated that replacing the baskets was too costly and ordered the Maintenance Manager to ensure that the floor was kept clean and dry to prevent rejects. The auditor later checked the factory floor, which was wet and dirty in places.
From the following nonconformities, select three that the auditor could raise to ISO 9001.
Scenario 3:
Fin-Pro is a financial institution in Austria offering commercial banking, wealth management, and investment services. The company faced a significant loss of customers due to failing to improve service quality as they expanded.
To regain customer confidence, top management implemented a QMS based on ISO 9001. After a year, they contacted ACB, a local certification body, to pursue ISO 9001 certification.
The audit team was led by Emilia, an experienced lead auditor, and included three auditors. After an agreement was reached, ACB sent the audit objectives to the audit team.
The audit team began by gathering information about Fin-Pro’s understanding of ISO 9001 requirements. While reviewing documented information, they noticed missing records of training and awareness sessions. They conducted employee interviews to verify attendance.
The team also reviewed the organizational chart and job descriptions to confirm employee competence. They observed the company’s working environment (social, psychological, and physical conditions).
The audit team analyzed the evidence and prepared an audit report with findings and conclusions.
ACB sent the audit objectives to the audit team after an agreement was reached. Is this acceptable?
XYZ Corporation is an organisation that employs 100 people. As audit team leader, you are conducting a
certification audit at Stage 1. When reviewing the quality management system (QMS) documentation, you
find that quality objectives have been set for every employee in the organisation except top management.
The Quality Manager complains that this has created a lot of resistance to the QMS, and the Chief Executive
is asking questions about how much it will cost. He asks for your opinion on whether this is the correct
method of setting objectives.
Three months after Stage 1, you return to XYZ Corporation to conduct a Stage 2 certification audit as Audit
Team Leader with one other auditor. You find that the Quality Manager has cancelled the previous quality
objectives for all employees and replaced them with a single objective for himself. This states that "The
Quality Manager will drive multiple improvements in the QMS in the next year". The Quality Manager indicates
that this gives him the authority to issue instructions to department managers when quality improvement is
needed. He says that this approach has the full backing of senior management. He shows you the latest
Quality Improvement Request that was included in the last management review.
After further auditing, the issues below were found. Select two statements that apply to the term
`nonconformity'.
An audit team of three people is conducting a Stage 2 audit to ISO 9001 of an engineering organisation which manufactures sacrificial anodes for the
oil and gas industry in marine environments. These are aluminium products designed to prevent corrosion of submerged steel structures. As one of
the auditors, you find that the organisation has shipped anodes for Project DK in the Gulf of Mexico before the galvanic efficiency test results for the
anodes have been fully analysed and reported as required by the customer. The Quality Manager explains that the Managing Director authorised the
release of the anodes to avoid late delivery as penalties would be imposed. The customer was not informed since the tests rarely fall below the
required efficiency. You raise a nonconformity against clause 8.6 of ISO 9001.
During the audit team meeting in preparation for the Closing meeting, the second auditor disagreed with the clause of ISO 9001 selected for the
above nonconformity. He thinks it should be clause 9.1.1.
Choose three options for how the audit team leader should best respond to the situation:
A Health Trust has contracted with Servitup, a catering services company that has been certified to ISO
9001 for one year. It provides services to 10 small rural hospitals in remote locations involving the
purchase and storage of dry goods and fresh produce, preparing meals and loading heated trolleys for
ward service by hospital staff. You, as auditor, are conducting the first surveillance audit at one site with
the Deputy Catering Manager (DCM).
DCM: "I apologise for the absence of the Catering Manager. He has called in sick today and we are really
short of staff."
You: "I see. It really shouldn't affect the QMS so the audit can progress as normal."
DCM: "The Catering Manager set up the system. I'm afraid I'm not as familiar with it as he is."
You: "OK, let's start with the Quality Policy. What are the main issues for the QMS here?"
DCM: Give me a minute. I need to look at the Quality Policy on the noticeboard in his office.
You find that two internal audits have been carried out in the first year by the Catering Manager. One of
them indicates that complaints from patients are increasing in number, mainly due to food being served
too cold. The DCM comments that the trolley thermometer is often unreliable.
Which two of the following actions would be "correction" in dealing with the complaints?
State the correct sequence of events in the certification process for an organisation to obtain third-party accredited certification to ISO 9001.
The following list gives examples of records that may be evidence of how an organisation has fulfilled the requirements of clause 8.4 of ISO 9001. Match the records to the appropriate requirement of clause 8.4.
You are conducting an ISO 9001 audit of a Materials Recycling Facility (MRF). The organisation processes
waste plastics into raw materials for plastic bottle manufacturers. You reach the manual picking line where operators are removing contaminant materials from incoming products, such as plastic bags, plastic film and badly contaminated items that would compromise the recycling process. You interview the line supervisor.
You: "Why are these plastic items being rejected at this stage?"
Auditee: "They do not meet our processing standards."
You: "What is the reason for that?"
Auditee: "These items are likely to damage the machinery down the line. They can also compromise our
quality standards. We need to protect our reputation for good quality output materials."
You: "What happens to the rejected items?"
Auditee: "Some get melted down in another process later on and some are disposed of as waste products that cannot be recycled."
You: "What happens to the waste products?"
Auditee: "I'm not sure. I suppose they go to landfill."
Which two. of the following actions would you take to investigate further?
You are conducting an audit at a single-site organisation seeking certification to ISO 9001 for the first time. The organisation manufactures cosmetics for major retailers and the name of the retailer supplied appears on the product packaging. Sales turnover has increased significantly over the past five years.
You are interviewing the new Product Development Manager. You note that a software application called SWIFT is used to help control the product development process.
You have gathered audit evidence as outlined in the table. Match the ISO 9001 clause 8.3 extracts to the audit evidence.
According to the ISO 9001 standard, which one of the following is a defined responsibility of top management?
Confidence in the audit process and its ability to achieve its objectives depends on the competence of those involved in performing audits:
According to ISO 19011, select the two participants who need to be competent in performing audits.
Scenario 1: AL-TAX is a company located in California which provides financial and accounting services. The company manages the finances of 17 companies and now is seeking to expand their business even more The CEO of AL-TAX, Liam Durham, claims that the company seeks to provide top-notch services to their clients Recently, there were a number of new companies interested in the services provided by AL-TAX.
In order to fulfill the requirements of new clients and further improve quality, Liam discussed with other top management members the idea of implementing a quality management system (QMS) based on ISO 9001. During the discussion, one of the members of the top management claimed that the size of the company was not large enough to implement a QMS. In addition, another member claimed that a QMS is not applicable for the industry in which AL TAX operates. However, as the majority of the members voted for implementing the QMS. Liam initiated the project.
Initially, Liam hired an experienced consultant to help AL-TAX with the implementation of the QMS. They started by planning and developing processes and methods for the establishment of a QMS based on ISO 9001. Furthermore, they ensured that the quality policy is appropriate to the purpose and context of AL TAX and communicated to all employees. In addition, they also tried to follow a process that enables the company to ensure that its processes are adequately resourced and managed, and that improvement opportunities are determined.
During the implementation process, Liam and the consultant focused on determining the factors that could hinder their processes from achieving the planned results and implemented some preventive actions in order to avoid potential nonconformities Six months after the implementation of the QMS. AL-TAX conducted an internal audit. The results of the internal audit revealed that the QMS was not fulfilling all requirements of ISO 9001. A serious issue was that the QMS was not fulfilling the requirements of clause 5.1.2 Customer focus and had also not ensured clear and open communication channels with suppliers.
Throughout the next three years, the company worked on improving its QMS through the PDCA cycle in the respective areas. To assess the effectiveness of the intended actions while causing minimal disruptions, they tested changes that need to be made on a smaller scale. After taking necessary actions, AL-TAX decided to apply for certification against ISO 9001.
Based on the scenario above, answer the following question:
According to scenario 1, AL-TAX determined the factors that could hinder their processes from achieving the planned results and implemented preventive actions. This means they employed:
You are leading a Stage 2 certification audit of a multi-site organisation and have received the audit schedule below;
Head Office and Site 1 - Day 1
Site 2 (150 Km from HQ) - Days 2 and 3
During Day 1 of the audit, the dient informs you that the laboratory at Site 2 has been dosed for decontamination due to a serious outbreak of an infectious disease among workers. In Site 2, all other functions could be audited as planned.
As the audit team leader, what would you do?
Choose the best acceptable action you could take:
® Ask the audit Programme Manager for direction.
Complete the audit on day 3 and report back to the certification body for a certification decision.
Continue the audit on days 2 and 3 and return later to audit the Site 2 laboratory.
Immediately cancel the audit since the audit plan cannot be completed.
Who has the responsibility for assigning work to the audit team?
Put the following steps of a third-party audit into the correct sequence in which they happen.
You are conducting an ISO 9001 audit of a Materials Recycling Facility (MRF). The company
processes waste plastics into raw material for plastic bottle manufacturers. You reach the manual
picking line where operators are removing contaminant materials from incoming products, such as
plastic bags, plastic film and badly contaminated items that would compromise the recycling process.
You interview the line supervisor.
You: "Why are these plastic items being rejected at this stage?"
Auditee: "They do not meet our processing standards."
You: "What is the reason for that?"
Auditee: "These items are likely to damage the machinery down the line. They can also
compromise our quality standards. We need to protect our reputation for good quality output
materials."
You: "What happens to the rejected items?"
Auditee: "Some get melted down in another process later on and some are disposed of as waste
products that cannot be recycled."
You: "What happens to the waste products?"
Auditee: "I'm not sure. I suppose they go to landfill."
After further auditing, you have gathered additional evidence.
Scenario 3:
Fin-Pro is a financial institution in Austria offering commercial banking, wealth management, and investment services. The company faced a significant loss of customers due to failing to improve service quality as they expanded.
To regain customer confidence, top management implemented a QMS based on ISO 9001. After a year, they contacted ACB, a local certification body, to pursue ISO 9001 certification.
The audit team was led by Emilia, an experienced lead auditor, and included three auditors. After an agreement was reached, ACB sent the audit objectives to the audit team.
The audit team began by gathering information about Fin-Pro’s understanding of ISO 9001 requirements. While reviewing documented information, they noticed missing records of training and awareness sessions. They conducted employee interviews to verify attendance.
The team also reviewed the organizational chart and job descriptions to confirm employee competence. They observed the company’s working environment (social, psychological, and physical conditions).
The audit team analyzed the evidence and prepared an audit report with findings and conclusions.
Which statement below represents the level of responsibility demonstrated by the audit team in scenario 3?
The procedures of an organisation require that all purchase orders have to be signed by the Purchasing Manager, or, in her absence, by the Production Manager. During an audit carried out in November 2020, an auditor determined that during three weeks in February 2020, the purchase orders were not signed. You raise a nonconformance under Clause 8.4.3 of ISO 9001:2015.
Which one of the following answers would you accept as a 'correction' from the Purchasing Manager?
You have been just hired as the Internal Lead Auditor of a large organisation, responsible for internal audits. Your first job is to analyse the answers to nonconformities included in the report of a recent internal audit to Top Management.
The report contained one nonconformity as follows:
There is no evidence of Top Management ensuring the availability of resources to operate the QMS, the establishment of objectives, the promotion of continual improvement, and the promoting of the process approach.
Which four of the following Top Management actions can be considered 'corrections to the nonconformity'?
You are an auditor and are in dialogue with the quality manager and the managing director of a small business that supplies specific IT
hardware and software for manufacturers of medical equipment.
You: "I would like to look at how you manage the design and development of your products.
Auditee: "We have made some strategic changes, the main one being that since last month we no longer produce the software of our
products in-house."
You: "What has been the impact of that?"
Auditee: "We now subcontract the provision of the software needed for our hardware. This allowed us to concentrate our efforts on
the hardware and let specialised organisations develop the software. For the time being, we have subcontracted our software
requirements to three different organisations.
You: "What were the reasons for making the change?"
Auditee: "Our IT software section was a small operation, and we struggled to cope with new technologies. During busy periods, we
found it hard to meet lead times, and in quiet periods, we had staff with little to do. This was having an impact on customer
satisfaction."
You: "How did you go about the change?"
In relation to the auditor's question about how the change was managed, the auditee mentions the actions listed
below. Match the ISO 9001 clauses to show which action the requirement applies to.
To complete the table, click on the blank section you want to complete so it is highlighted in red and then click on the
ISO 9001 clauses listed below. Alternatively, drag and drop each clause to show which clause the action applies to.
In the context of a third-party audit, select the issue which is not expected to be included in the audit plan.
Scenario 1: AL-TAX is a company located in California which provides financial and accounting services. The company manages the finances of 17 companies and now is seeking to expand their business even more The CEO of AL-TAX, Liam Durham, claims that the company seeks to provide top-notch services to their clients Recently, there were a number of new companies interested in the services provided by AL-TAX.
In order to fulfill the requirements of new clients and further improve quality, Liam discussed with other top management members the idea of implementing a quality management system (QMS) based on ISO 9001. During the discussion, one of the members of the top management claimed that the size of the company was not large enough to implement a QMS. In addition, another member claimed that a QMS is not applicable for the industry in which AL TAX operates. However, as the majority of the members voted for implementing the QMS. Liam initiated the project.
Initially, Liam hired an experienced consultant to help AL-TAX with the implementation of the QMS. They started by planning and developing processes and methods for the establishment of a QMS based on ISO 9001. Furthermore, they ensured that the quality policy is appropriate to the purpose and context of AL TAX and communicated to all employees. In addition, they also tried to follow a process that enables the company to ensure that its processes are adequately resourced and managed, and that improvement opportunities are determined.
During the implementation process, Liam and the consultant focused on determining the factors that could hinder their processes from achieving the planned results and implemented some preventive actions in order to avoid potential nonconformities Six months after the implementation of the QMS. AL-TAX conducted an internal audit. The results of the internal audit revealed that the QMS was not fulfilling all requirements of ISO 9001. A serious issue was that the QMS was not fulfilling the requirements of clause 5.1.2 Customer focus and had also not ensured clear and open communication channels with suppliers.
Throughout the next three years, the company worked on improving its QMS through the PDCA cycle in the respective areas. To assess the effectiveness of the intended actions while causing minimal disruptions, they tested changes that need to be made on a smaller scale. After taking necessary actions, AL-TAX decided to apply for certification against ISO 9001.
Based on the scenario above, answer the following question:
Which of the following misconceptions about ISO 9001 was present in scenario 1?
To complete the non-conformity report, click on the blank section you want to complete so it is highlighted in red and then click on the applicable text from the options below. Alternatively, drag and drop the options to the appropriate blank section.
You are auditing a manufacturer of specialty tea products during a Stage 2 certification audit. In the quality laboratory, you interview one of three operatives conducting sensory testing of a batch from the production line.
Select three options of evidence which could demonstrate conformance with clause 9.1.1 of ISO 9001:2015.
For a third-party, match the Activity with the Responsibility for conducting it.
Scenario 4:
TD Advertising is a print management company based in Chicago. The company offers design services, digital printing, storage, and distribution. As TD expanded, its management recognized that success depended on adopting new technologies and improving quality.
To ensure customer satisfaction and quality improvement, the company decided to pursue ISO 9001 certification.
After implementing the QMS, TD hired a well-known certification body for an audit. Anne Key was appointed as the audit team leader. She received a document listing the audit team members, audit scope, criteria, duration, and audit engagement limits.
Anne reviewed the document and approved the audit mandate. The certification body and TD’s top management signed the certification agreement.
Before contacting TD, Anne reviewed the audit scope and noticed that TD made changes to it due to the adoption of new printing equipment. However, Anne disagreed with the changes, stating they would affect the audit timeline. She considered withdrawing from the audit.
How do you assess the situation presented in the last paragraph of scenario 4?
In the context of a second-party audit, match the activity with the party responsible for conducting it.
Consultancy ABC, which is a subsidiary of a certification body called ABC-CERT, provided consultancy services regarding the implementation of a QMS based on ISO 9001 to an organization. Considering this, can ABC-CERT provide certification services to the organization which obtained consultancy services from Consultancy ABC?
Scenario 5: Mechanical-Electro (ME) Audit Stages
Mechanical-Electro, better known as ME, is an American company that provides mechanical and electrical services in China. Their services range from air-conditioning systems, ventilation systems, plumbing, to installation of electrical equipment in automobile plants, electronic manufacturing facilities, and food processing plants.
Due to the fierce competition from local Chinese companies and failing to meet customer requirements, ME's revenue dropped significantly. In addition, customers' trust and confidence in the company decreased, and the reputation of the company was damaged.
In light of these developments, the top management of ME decided to implement a quality management system (QMS) based on ISO 9001. After having an effective QMS in place for over a year, they applied for a certification audit.
A team of four auditors was appointed for the audit, including Li Na as the audit team leader. Initially, the audit team conducted a general review of ME's documents, including the quality policy, operational procedures, inventory lists, QMS scope, process documentation, training records, and previous audit reports.
Li Na stated that this would allow the team to maintain a systematic and structured approach to gathering documents for all audit stages. While reviewing the documented information, the team observed some minor issues but did not identify any major nonconformities. Therefore, Li Na claimed that it was not necessary to prepare a report or conduct a meeting with ME's representatives at that stage of the audit. She stated that all areas of concern would be discussed in the next phase of the audit.
Following the on-site activities and the opening meeting with ME's top management, the audit team structured an audit test plan to verify whether ME’s QMS conformed to Clause 8.2.1 (Customer Communication) of ISO 9001.
To do so, they gathered information through group interviews and sampling. Li Na conducted interviews with departmental managers in the first group and then with top management. In addition, she chose a sampling method that sufficiently represented customer complaints from both areas of ME's operations.
The team members were responsible for the sampling procedure. They selected a sample size of 4 out of 45 customer complaints received weekly for electrical services and 2 out of 10 complaints for mechanical services.
Afterward, the audit team evaluated the evidence against the audit criteria and generated the audit findings.
Li Na chose a sampling method that sufficiently represents customer complaints from both areas of ME’s operations. Which sampling method fits that description?
Scenario 6: Davis Clinic (DC) is an American medical center focused on integrated health care. Since its establishment DC was committed to providing qualitative services for its clients, which is the reason why the company decided to implement a quality management system (QMS) based on ISO 9001. After a year of having an active QMS in place, DC applied for a certification audit.
A team of five auditors, from a well-known certification body, was selected to conduct the audit. Eva was appointed as the audit team leader. After three days of auditing, the team gathered to review and examine their findings. They also discussed the audit findings with DC's top management and then drafted the audit conclusions.
In the closing meeting, which was held between the audit team and the top management of DC. Eva presented two nonconformities that were detected during the audit. Eva stated that the company did not retain documented information regarding its outsourced services for an analysis laboratory and regarding the conducted management reviews. During the closing meeting, the audit team required from DCs top management to come up with corrective action plans within two weeks. Although the top management did not agree with the audit findings, the audit team insisted that the auditee must submit corrective actions within the given time frame in order for the audit activities to continue.
Once the action plans were evaluated, the audit team began preparing the audit report. Eva required from the team to provide accurate descriptions of the audit findings and the audit conclusions. The report was then distributed to all the interested parties involved in the audit, including the certification body Based on the report, the certification body together with Eva, as the audit team leader, made the certification decision.
Based on the scenario above, answer the following question:
The audit team delayed audit activities until DC’s top management submitted their action plans. Is this acceptable?
Scenario 7: POLKA is a car manufacturing company based in Stockholm, Sweden. The company has around 14,000 employees working in different sectors which help with the design, painting, assembling, and test drives of the final product. The company is widely known for its qualitative products and affordable prices. In order to retain their reputation, POLKA implemented a quality management system (QMS) based on ISO 9001.
Before applying for certification, the company decided to conduct an internal audit to check whether there are any nonconformities in their QMS and if the requirements of ISO 9001 are being fulfilled. The top management appointed Sean, the internal auditor, as the team leader of the internal audit team. Sean required from the top management to have unrestricted access to the employees and executives of POLKA and to the documented information. Furthermore, Sean required to establish a team with a large number of auditors, considering the size and the complexity of the organization. The top management of POLKA agreed with Sean's requirements.
The top management, in cooperation with Sean, assigned 10 more employees to the audit team. Following that. Sean planned the audit activities and assigned the roles and responsibilities to each auditor. They began by interviewing employees of different manufacturing departments to check whether they are aware of the process of the QMS implementation. While conducting these activities, one of the auditors asked Sean for permission to audit the department in which he worked on a daily basis, as he was very familiar with the processes of the department.
Along the way, the teams findings showed that the staff were trained, documented information was updated, and the QMS fulfilled the requirements of ISO 9001. The internal audit took three weeks to complete, and on the last week the audit team held a final meeting
The team shared their results and together drafted the audit report This report was submitted to the top management of the company. The report was maintained as documented information, and was available to the relevant interested parties.
Based on the scenario above, answer the following question:
Ten employees of POLKA were part of the audit team that conducted the internal audit. Is this acceptable?
Scenario 6: Davis Clinic (DC) is an American medical center focused on integrated health care. Since its establishment DC was committed to providing qualitative services for its clients, which is the reason why the company decided to implement a quality management system (QMS) based on ISO 9001. After a year of having an active QMS in place, DC applied for a certification audit.
A team of five auditors, from a well-known certification body, was selected to conduct the audit. Eva was appointed as the audit team leader. After three days of auditing, the team gathered to review and examine their findings. They also discussed the audit findings with DC's top management and then drafted the audit conclusions.
In the closing meeting, which was held between the audit team and the top management of DC. Eva presented two nonconformities that were detected during the audit. Eva stated that the company did not retain documented information regarding its outsourced services for an analysis laboratory and regarding the conducted management reviews. During the closing meeting, the audit team required from DCs top management to come up with corrective action plans within two weeks. Although the top management did not agree with the audit findings, the audit team insisted that the auditee must submit corrective actions within the given time frame in order for the audit activities to continue.
Once the action plans were evaluated, the audit team began preparing the audit report. Eva required from the team to provide accurate descriptions of the audit findings and the audit conclusions. The report was then distributed to all the interested parties involved in the audit, including the certification body Based on the report, the certification body together with Eva, as the audit team leader, made the certification decision.
Based on the scenario above, answer the following question:
Why is it important to discuss the audit findings with DC’s top management prior to the closing meeting and the submission of the final audit report?
Select the term which best describes the quality management system process of modifying a non-conforming product to bring it within acceptance criteria.
TIX provides services to the informatic equipment of large organisations. They operate an ISO 9001:2015 QMS that is being audited by an important
customer (second-party audit). During the audit, the audit team has identified two nonconformities. When preparing the Closing meeting, the audit
team discussed and agreed both nonconformities with TIX's quality manager. The Closing meeting was planned for 6pm with the general manager,
quality manager and service manager at the meeting room.
At 6pm, when the audit team enters the meeting room, only two people are present and waiting for them: the Health and Safety supervisor and the
warehouse supervisor. Neither have participated in the audit.
The dialogue among them is as follows:
Audit team leader: "Good evening, could you please inform the three managers that we are ready to start with the Closing meeting?"
Health and Safety supervisor: "Good evening. We are sorry to inform you that the general manager was involved in a serious car accident, and
the other two managers have had to leave urgently to attend the emergency."
Warehouse supervisor: "They have asked us to listen to what you need to say and to sign whatever we need to sign. We also have a message
from them about the two nonconformities. They wanted us to ask you if you could contact them in a couple of days to determine how to proceed."
Which one of the following options would be your preferred response to the final comment made by the warehouse manager?
Which of the following is a record related to the audit program that should be managed and maintained?
An audit team of three people is conducting a Stage 2 audit to ISO 9001 of an engineering organisation that manufactures sacrificial anodes for the oil and gas industry in marine environments. These are aluminium products designed to prevent corrosion of submerged steel structures. You, as one of the auditors, find that the organisation has shipped anodes for Project DK in the Gulf of Mexico before the galvanic efficiency test results for the anodes have been fully analysed and reported as required by the customer. The Quality Manager explains that the Managing Director authorised the release of the anodes to avoid late delivery as penalties would be Imposed. The customer was not informed since the tests very rarely fall below the required efficiency. You raise a nonconformity against clause 8.6 of ISO 9001.
At the Closing meeting, the audit team leader presents the findings of the audit and comes to the above
nonconformity. The Quality Manager produces the test report for Project DK, which shows an acceptable galvanic efficiency, and presents an email from the customer confirming acceptance of the anodes. He asks that the nonconformity be withdrawn.
Which two of the following responses by the audit team leader would be acceptable?
Takitup is a small fabrication company that manufactures steel fencing, stairs and platforms for the construction sector. It has been certified to ISO 9001 for some time and has appointed a new Quality Manager. The audit plan during a surveillance audit is to cover the company’s improvement actions and the auditor asks to see the most recent management review meeting minutes.
Which two of the options would be relevant points for the auditor’s checklist for the audit?
(Select one option which defines the purpose of a second-party audit to ISO 9001.)
Select six of the activities that are specifically required by ISO 17021-1 as part third-party (Certification Body) surveillance audit processes.
TESTED 19 Feb 2026
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