In June of 2024, the Bangkok office of Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH approached IQCS Certification to bid for a training project under their SCP Outreach in Asia – The Next Five (SCP Outreach) is financed by the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Nuclear Safety, and Consumer Information (BMUV).
IQCS Certification successfully won the open tender against competition from many well-known international training providers to provide CQI and IRCA Certified EMS ISO 14001:2015 Lead Auditor Course for Bhutan Standard Bureau (BSB). The aim of the project is to support the BSB, which is responsible for overseeing all standardization and conformity assessment activities in Bhutan, to build their capacity as a lead auditor. This in turn will support the national aspiration of Bhutan for sustainable development.

Figure 2 Participants giving their full attention to the lead tutor.
The course was conducted in Thimpu, Bhutan from September 16-20, 2024. All the participants were very focused and gained substantial insights on how to conduct effective audits against ISO 14001:2015 standard.

Figure 3 Participants working as a team on syndicate exercise
The participants were also very responsive and enthusiastic during the exercises, producing good outputs that demonstrated their grasp and understanding of the knowledge and skills essential for a competent auditor of Environmental Management System.

Figure 4 Working as a team on an exercise
Out of a total of 9 participants, 7 successfully passed the stringent online examination directly administered by CQI and IRCA. That translate to a 78% passing rate, surpassing the global average passing rate of 52% for EMS LAC. This is indeed an exceptional achievement as all the participants were new to the ISO standard. IQCS congratulates all the participants who have passed the exam and wish them all the best in their future as auditor.

Figure 5 Contributing their learning to each other.
IQCS Certification is looking forward to greater collaboration with GIZ and BSB in the near future.