I am going to take the 14001 lead auditor training soon and I am wondering what the difficulty level is? Do most people pass?

How well do you know the standard? I took it a few years back and it wasn't too hard. Randy was the instructor when I took it.

The course I took way back when was as difficult as I made it. Difficulty is a variable, what's tough for some is easy for others.

Marc has given some good advice, study the standard. Don't try to memorize it, study it....especially the stuff in the back in Annex "A". "Annex "A", often ignored, contains a wealth of useful information for the user.

Be well rested (or at least try to be), all courses are tough and tedious, you will get tired.

Come in with the right attitude. I've seen attitude defeat people from the git-go. Don't come in thinking you know everything and that all you're doing is punching a ticket, poor attitude will show itself during exercise work and during the exam. We can always learn at everything we do. I learn something every time I deliver a course and I'm supposed to be the expert.

Accept the material provided as one of many interpretations as to how the standard is to be applied and how to verify its application. None of us has all the answers and many times "our" answers are different, but equally valid.

And lastly, don't sweat the small stuff, and accept that it is all small stuff.

Good luck (and don't be afraid to challenge the instructor, I like that myself)

Oh yeah, I almost forgot....if Marc can pass, then anyone should be able to pass....this could even include Sidney:lol:

yes, I took ISO 9001:2000 LAC in April 2005 & Randy was instructor.
I'm not LA for ISO 14001 but i guess its like ISO 9001 with some technical clauses. Correct me if i'm wrong.

You're pretty much on with the similarity.

Thanks a ton for the info gentlemen. I'm less familiar with the standard than I am with the actual process. I'm reading the standard now in hopes of getting more familiar with it. I feel like I'm gonna have to get up to speed 0-60 pretty darn quickly. Can someone still succeed in the training if they come in with a very limited knowledge (standard-wise) beforehand?

'tis many a long year since I did the course and I passed so it must have been easy.

The youngsters on the Cove may give you more timely advice but my fading memory seem to remember lots of questions in the exam relating to auditing technique so don't restrict your studying just to the bare bones of ISO 14001.

It is, after all, an auditor course and the full range of required competencies is not to be found solely in that standard.

Good luck.

Thanks a ton for the info gentlemen. I'm less familiar with the standard than I am with the actual process. I'm reading the standard now in hopes of getting more familiar with it. I feel like I'm gonna have to get up to speed 0-60 pretty darn quickly. Can someone still succeed in the training if they come in with a very limited knowledge (standard-wise) beforehand?

Don't waste you time or expend too much effort in trying to memorize anything, especially ISO 14001. I've been working with it since it 1st came out, to some I might even be considered an expert of sorts, and I don't even have it memorized. I have better, more important things to do, like watch the new episode of Rome on HBO tonight.

And yes, anybody can achieve success if they just put forth the effort. (remember, we never fail, we just don't achieve the desired level of success)

Everyone has "limited" knowledge, it's just that some of our limits are at different stages of development. I still learn, and I've had people that have participated as members of TC 207 that have learned as well.

Open your mind, act as a sponge (absorb the material), focus, get engaged, and then do.