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An audit team leader arrives at a steel fabrication organisation that manufactures fire escape stairs to carry out a Stage 2 certification audit. At a meeting with the EMS Manager, she is informed that they have secured their largest contract from a construction organisation to manufacture and install fire escape stairs. They appointed a subcontractor to perform the installation work. The EMS Manager wants the ISO 14001 audit extended to cover the installation site.
During the audit, a team member found that several complaints had been made to the organisation regarding their installation operators being seen to dispose of excess paint into the site drains, which breached legal requirements. The EMS Manager blames the contractors they had to take on because of the big contract. The auditor raises a nonconformance against clause 8.1 of ISO 14001.
Which one of the following statements would support this finding?
The correct answer is A.
This finding relates to ISO 14001:2015 Clause 8.1 --- Operational planning and control. Clause 8.1 requires the organisation to control or influence outsourced processes and to communicate relevant environmental requirements to external providers, including contractors.
In this case, the installation work was subcontracted, but the environmental impact still occurred as part of the organisation's activities and contracted work. The disposal of excess paint into site drains created a legal breach and showed that the organisation had not effectively controlled or influenced the outsourced installation activity.
A is correct because a contract is a key way to communicate operational controls and environmental requirements to a subcontractor. If the installation contract did not require the subcontractor to comply with the organisation's EMS policy or environmental requirements, this supports a nonconformity against Clause 8.1.
The other options are linked to different ISO 14001 clauses:
B relates more closely to Clause 7.3 --- Awareness. C relates more closely to Clause 7.1 --- Resources. D relates more closely to Clause 7.2 --- Competence.
Therefore, the statement that best supports a nonconformity against ISO 14001 Clause 8.1 is A.