Plan and lead occupational health and safety management system audits under ISO 45001, ISO 19011, and ISO/IEC 17021-1. Published Self-Study or eLearning enrolment starts from $975 + GST and includes the official exam access stated on this page. Instructor-led delivery for organisations can be scoped on request; no public cohort is implied unless confirmed dates, mode, venue and trainer are shown.
Available Australia-wide, in New Zealand and across Asia Pacific — and, because self-study and eLearning are delivered online through the myPECB platform, from anywhere in the world. Instructor-led organisational delivery can be scoped on request; no public cohort or classroom venue is implied unless confirmed details are shown. Base prices are published in AUD, and every course page supports available local currencies including NZD. An Australian billing address adds 10% GST; a non-Australian billing address has no Australian GST.
The PECB ISO 45001 Lead Auditor Self-Study course costs A$975 excluding GST (A$1,072.50 including 10% GST for an Australian billing address) through Aegentra Academy, an official PECB authorised training partner in Australia. That price includes the official PECB examination voucher, the full course materials, 12 months of myPECB access, and one free exam resit within 12 months. Typical total learning effort is 35–45 hours. The eLearning format is A$1,055 excluding GST (A$1,160.50 including Australian GST), with 35–45 hours of typical total learning effort. For non-Australian billing addresses, Australian GST is not charged and any applicable local taxes are determined at checkout.
Instructor-led delivery is enquiry-only. Aegentra Academy is not currently publishing scheduled live online or classroom cohorts. Contact us to arrange a class for your organisation; Self-Study and eLearning are available without waiting for a cohort.
Australian totals above include 10% GST. For non-Australian billing addresses, Australian GST is not charged; any applicable local taxes are determined at checkout.
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Learn · Implement
Official PECB training is included. The practical ISO 45001 resources are free to use after the course, with no email required.
Learn
Included with courseThis is what the A$975 + GST Self-Study price covers, or A$1,055 + GST with PECB eLearning.
Choose your courseImplement
Free · No email requiredGo beyond passing the exam. Practical resources built around the work itself — the documents you will actually have to produce.
Explore free ISO 45001 resources$975 + GST self-paced, or $1,055 + GST with guided eLearning. Both include the official PECB examination voucher and 2 exam attempts included, 12 months of access, over 450 pages of material and 31 CPD credits. The course is equivalent to five classroom days.
Five-day classroom lead auditor training in Australia commonly runs past $3,000 before travel, and the same PECB Lead-tier credential is listed elsewhere from around $2,497. Accreditation is program- and scope-specific; verify the applicable credential before enrolment — the certificate does not change with the price.
| Lead Auditor | Lead Implementer | |
|---|---|---|
| You are hired to | Judge whether an OH&S MS conforms | Build and run the OH&S MS |
| Heaviest exam domain | Conducting the audit (3 questions, 20 points) | Implementing an OH&S MS (3 questions, 20 points) |
| Method taught | ISO 19011 and ISO/IEC 17021-1 | PECB’s IMS2 methodology |
| Price | $975 + GST | $975 + GST |
New to the standard? ISO 45001 Foundation is $775 + GST.
Unlike most auditor schemes this exam is not multiple choice. It is 12 essay-type questions worth 75 points in total, open book, over 3 hours, at a 70% pass mark — written answers throughout. PECB’s candidate handbook publishes the distribution:
| Competency domain | Questions | Points |
|---|---|---|
| Fundamental principles and concepts of an OH&S MS | 2 | 10 |
| The OH&S MS and ISO 45001 requirements | 2 | 10 |
| Fundamental audit concepts and principles | 2 | 10 |
| Preparing an ISO 45001 audit | 1 | 10 |
| Conducting an ISO 45001 audit | 3 | 20 |
| Closing an ISO 45001 audit | 1 | 5 |
| Managing an ISO 45001 audit programme | 1 | 10 |
| Total | 12 | 75 |
Note how flat the weighting is compared with other schemes — six of the seven domains carry 10 points or fewer, and only conducting the audit carries 20. This is an exam that samples the whole audit lifecycle rather than concentrating on one part of it.
The format is the difficulty. Open book removes credit for memorisation and essay answers remove credit for recognition — you write findings, not select them. Twelve written answers in 180 minutes averages 15 minutes each, and with the weighting this flat you cannot afford to lose time on any single domain. Candidates who fail generally run out of time rather than knowledge.
The most useful exam preparation is writing against a scenario: given this evidence, state the finding, classify it, cite the clause. PECB’s quizzes mirror the exam structure — use one as a mock under the real time limit.
An OH&S MS audit runs to ISO 19011, with certification audits additionally governed by ISO/IEC 17021-1.
The distinctive test is Clause 5.4. Worker consultation and participation cannot be delegated to a manager, and it is the most commonly failed clause — organisations produce a toolbox-talk register and call it consultation. The question that separates a competent auditor is simple: what changed as a result?
ISO 45001 is not law and does not replace it. In Australia the legal obligation comes from the model Work Health and Safety Act and WHS Regulations, developed by Safe Work Australia and adopted — with variations — by each state and territory. The duty is to eliminate or minimise risk so far as is reasonably practicable.
ISO 45001 is the voluntary management system that produces the evidence that duty was discharged. That distinction matters commercially, because four things have made evidence the expensive part:
WHS law is state-adopted and the detail differs by jurisdiction — always check the instrument that applies where you operate rather than assuming the model provisions were adopted verbatim. Nothing here is legal advice.
For an auditor this is the terrain. You are testing whether a system would survive contact with a regulator, and the gaps cluster in the same places: legal requirements listed but never evaluated, psychosocial hazards absent from the risk register entirely, and AS/NZS 4801 legacy systems carrying no worker participation evidence at all.
An ISO 45001 internal auditor audits their own organisation’s OH&S MS, first-party, to satisfy the internal audit requirement in Clause 9.2. A lead auditor is qualified to plan and lead audits of other organisations — second-party contractor and supplier audits and third-party certification audits — including managing an audit team and an audit programme.
Practically: if you only need to run internal audits of your own system, the internal audit content inside this course covers it, and our free internal audit material below is the working document for it. There is no separate PECB internal auditor credential for ISO 45001 — this course covers both contexts, and which credential you are awarded depends on the audit hours you attest. If you intend to audit other organisations or work for a certification body, Lead Auditor training supports that pathway; actual eligibility depends on experience and the engaging organisation’s requirements.
Passing the exam makes you eligible to apply for the Provisional credential, with no experience required:
| Credential | Professional experience | In OH&S | Audit hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| Provisional Auditor | None | None | None |
| Auditor | 2 years | 1 year | 200 |
| Lead Auditor | 5 years | 2 years | 300 |
| Senior Lead Auditor | 10 years | 7 years | 1,000 |
The third column is the constraint people miss — general audit years do not satisfy the occupational health and safety minimum. All tiers require signing the PECB Code of Ethics.
Certification bodies staffing OH&S audit teams; principal contractors auditing subcontractors before and during works; construction, resources, manufacturing, transport and utilities operators whose prequalification depends on certification; government panels; and consultancies running pre-certification and gap reviews. Typical titles are safety officer, WHS manager, HSE adviser, HSEQ manager, internal auditor and lead auditor.
Delivery is self-paced online across Australia, with a live instructor-led online class or in-person classroom in Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Perth, Adelaide and Canberra available on request. For teams we quote corporate ISO 45001 group training, onsite or virtual.
The artefacts an OH&S auditor asks for first, published in full and free.
Building the system rather than auditing it is the Lead Implementer track. For organisational certification, see the ISO 45001 certification guide for Australia.
The official PECB course and exam package starts at A$975 + GST — with no separate exam fee after enrolment. Optional Aegentra Labs exam preparation is clearly priced separately.
The exam voucher is included in your enrolment, and so is one free resit if you don’t pass first time. Both the exam and the credential are issued directly by PECB.
PECB credential ladder: Provisional Auditor (no experience required) → Auditor (two years of professional experience, one in occupational health and safety, plus 200 hours of audit activity) → Lead Auditor (five years, two in occupational health and safety, plus 300 hours) → Senior Lead Auditor (ten years, seven in occupational health and safety, plus 1,000 hours). All tiers require signing the PECB Code of Ethics. Accreditation is program- and scope-specific; verify the applicable credential before enrolment.
An exam pass is the first step. You must submit PECB's certification application and required declarations and references. PECB decides whether the requirements for the requested credential tier are met.
/ Before you enrol
These answers use this course's current catalogue record and PECB's published exam, certification, and maintenance policies.
The published price is A$975 for Self-Study or A$1,055 for eLearning, before tax. It includes the official PECB course materials, 12 months of access, the first exam attempt, one free retake, and the certification application fee. PECB’s partner-course policy also includes the first year of the Annual Maintenance Fee where maintenance applies; Foundation and Provisional credentials are maintenance-exempt. There is no separate first-exam or certification-application charge after enrolment.
PECB’s current maintenance policy lists no maintenance fee for Foundation, Provisional, or Transition credentials. For all other PECB certifications, the published fee is $390 per three-year certification cycle, together with the applicable CPD requirements and continued adherence to the PECB Code of Ethics. PECB sets this fee and may change it, so check the linked policy before renewal.
Yes. Every Academy course supports AUD and multiple local currencies, including NZD, USD, SGD, GBP, EUR, INR, AED, MYR, PHP, IDR, and VND when a live quote is available. Currency and tax are separate: an Australian billing address adds 10% GST, while a non-Australian billing address has no Australian GST. For example, an Australian working in New Zealand may pay in NZD and use an Australian billing address, but 10% GST will still be added because the billing address is Australian.
Self-Study costs A$975 before tax and uses the official PECB slide-based materials. eLearning costs A$1,055 before tax — A$80 more — and adds recorded trainer-led lessons and interactive learning activities. Both routes lead to the same PECB exam and credential, and both include the same exam package. Choose eLearning if explanations and video guidance help you learn; choose Self-Study if you are comfortable working through standards-based material independently.
Yes. PECB publishes remote online exam sessions that candidates can take from home or another suitable location through the PECB Exams application. The published course record lists these exam facts: duration — 3 hours; format — Open-book, essay-type questions — written answers, not multiple choice; assessment — 12 essay-type questions worth 75 points in total, across 7 competency domains — fundamental principles and concepts of an OH&S MS (2 questions, 10 points), the OH&S MS and ISO 45001 requirements (2 questions, 10 points), fundamental audit concepts and principles (2 questions, 10 points), preparing an ISO 45001 audit (1 question, 10 points), conducting an ISO 45001 audit (3 questions, 20 points — the heaviest domain), closing an ISO 45001 audit (1 question, 5 points), and managing an ISO 45001 audit programme (1 question, 10 points); pass mark — 70%; language — English (other PECB languages available on request). New Zealand candidates should choose a published session that suits their local time, meet PECB’s identity and technical requirements, and complete the system check before exam day. PECB’s general exam policy does not publish a New Zealand restriction.
PECB credential ladder: Provisional Auditor (no experience required) → Auditor (two years of professional experience, one in occupational health and safety, plus 200 hours of audit activity) → Lead Auditor (five years, two in occupational health and safety, plus 300 hours) → Senior Lead Auditor (ten years, seven in occupational health and safety, plus 1,000 hours). All tiers require signing the PECB Code of Ethics. Accreditation is program- and scope-specific; verify the applicable credential before enrolment. Passing the exam does not by itself award a credential or guarantee the highest experience-based tier. PECB requires an online certification application and reference contact details, and its Certification Department decides whether the education, professional experience, and audit or assessment activity requirements are met.
PECB’s public certification-process page does not publish a closed list of documents that automatically proves project hours. It requires the online application and contact details for references who may be contacted to validate your experience. Keep a dated activity log showing the organisation or client, your role, the audit or assessment activity, dates, responsibilities, and hours; retain employer or client confirmations, statements of work, timesheets, or similar records in case PECB asks for support. The PECB Certification Department assesses the application and makes the final decision.
Yes. You can hold both the ISO 45001 Lead Implementer and ISO 45001 Lead Auditor credentials. They are separate, complementary certifications: Lead Implementer develops implementation knowledge, while Lead Auditor develops audit knowledge. To pursue both, complete each course, pass each exam, and apply for each credential. PECB assesses implementation-project experience for the Implementer tier and audit experience for the Auditor tier separately. If you pass an exam before meeting the full experience requirements, you may apply for the applicable Provisional credential and later request an upgrade. PECB evaluates each upgrade application and may determine whether an examination is required. Neither credential automatically grants the other.
5 modules, fully on-demand. Click any module to see the topics inside.
Foundation establishes the language, Lead Implementer builds the management system, and Lead Auditor verifies it. Choose the level that matches the work you will perform.
Entry-level pathway to ISO 45001 — occupational health and safety concepts and the OH&S MS requirements, Clauses 4 to 10.
Establish, implement, manage, and maintain an occupational health and safety management system based on ISO 45001.
Plan and lead occupational health and safety management system audits under ISO 45001, ISO 19011, and ISO/IEC 17021-1.
An OH&S audit has to test whether hazard identification, worker consultation, and operational controls actually function — not whether documents exist. This course teaches the ISO 19011 method applied to a domain where the consequences of a system that only works on paper are physical.
The audit method comes from ISO 19011 and the certification process from ISO/IEC 17021-1, neither specific to safety. Auditors routinely hold ISO 45001 alongside ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 because HSEQ clients run integrated systems and want one auditor who can cover them.
HSEQ Auditor, Safety Systems Auditor, Internal Auditor, Lead Auditor at a certification body, and safety consulting roles. Principal contractors also employ auditors to assess subcontractor safety systems as a prequalification condition.
Holding both Lead Implementer and Lead Auditor in a scheme opens the PECB Master credential pathway. In safety particularly, having built a system makes you considerably better at judging whether someone else’s works.
Subcontractor safety systems are audited as a prequalification condition on most major projects. Formal audit competence makes those reviews defensible.
High-consequence hazards mean safety audits carry real weight. Regulators, insurers, and boards all rely on the quality of that assurance.
The credential may support progression into risk, governance, implementation, audit and consulting roles. Actual eligibility, remuneration and engagement requirements depend on experience, sector, location and employer or client requirements.
Every certified organisation must audit its own OH&S MS. Doing that with the same rigour a certification body applies is what makes internal audit useful rather than ceremonial.
The exam is open-book, but the questions reward fluency, not lookup. Plan your study around these checkpoints.
Free learning resources
Use Aegentra’s existing templates, checklists, registers and mappings alongside your course. No account or email is required.
Free companion reading for anyone studying occupational health and safety management — weighted in Australian tender and prequalification schemes:
Compare the family
The ISO 45001 family page compares current levels, prices, delivery, audiences and exam facts before you choose a pathway.
Compare ISO 45001 pathwaysSource and review status
Price, delivery and course content are generated from Aegentra’s authoritative catalogue record. The official PECB course page and exam policy are linked directly below. Source-link checks and substantive human review are tracked separately so one is never presented as the other.
Official PECB sources
Editorial accountability
Harry Sidhu owns publication of this record. A separate course-specific substantive reviewer has not yet been recorded.
Substantive review status
Official source links are checked separately. A course-specific substantive review date will be published when completed.
Official PECB training through an authorised partner. PECB is accredited by IAS and UKAS as a personnel certification body under ISO/IEC 17024 and by ANAB as a certificate issuer under ANSI/ASTM E2659-24. Accreditation is program- and scope-specific—verify the applicable credential before enrolment.
Official PECB training and credential pathway. Check PECB’s current accreditation information and the applicable program scope before enrolment.
This official PECB course is sold and supported by Aegentra Academy. PECB supplies the course material, examination and professional credential scheme. Aegentra's wider practice also runs governance, risk and compliance engagements and Microsoft 365 hardening for Australian organisations. Named eLearning trainers are credited separately on this page when the course record supplies them.
Published courses run online and self-paced through the myPECB platform, so professionals across Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Perth, Adelaide, Canberra and New Zealand enrol online. Instructor-led delivery for organisations can be scoped on request. No public cohort or classroom venue is implied unless confirmed dates, mode, venue and trainer are shown on the course page. Multi-seat team pricing is available for five or more seats — email Academy@aegentra.com.au for an enterprise quote. Tax invoices with GST and ABN are issued automatically at checkout.
The published option is self-paced study. Instructor-led delivery for organisations can be scoped on request, subject to trainer availability, learner numbers and an agreed date. Aegentra does not publish a live or classroom cohort unless its dates, delivery mode, venue (where applicable) and trainer are confirmed. Email Academy@aegentra.com.au with your requirements.
Lead Implementer trains you to build and run an OH&S management system using PECB’s IMS2 methodology. Lead Auditor trains you to independently assess one, using ISO 19011 audit methodology and the ISO/IEC 17021-1 certification process. Implementers build; auditors form an opinion. Holding both opens the PECB Master credential pathway.
Self-Study at $975 + GST gives you the official PECB slide deck and course material to work through at your own pace. The eLearning option at $1,055 + GST adds recorded video lectures and scenario-based quizzes over the same material. Both include the exam and the free retake, and both lead to the identical PECB credential.
It depends on attested experience. Provisional Auditor requires none. Auditor requires two years of professional experience with one in OH&S management plus 200 hours of audit activities. Lead Auditor requires five years with two in OH&S management plus 300 hours. Senior Lead Auditor requires ten years with seven in OH&S management plus 1,000 hours. All require signing the PECB Code of Ethics.
Seven competency domains: fundamental principles and concepts of an OH&S MS; ISO 45001 requirements across Clauses 4 to 10; fundamental audit concepts and principles; preparing an ISO 45001 audit; conducting the audit; closing the audit; and managing an ISO 45001 audit programme.
No. The course teaches audit principles from the ground up under ISO 19011, including evidence-based and risk-based auditing. Existing audit experience in another management system scheme will make the material faster to absorb, since the method transfers directly.
No. An ISO 45001 audit assesses conformity to the standard, not compliance with WHS legislation — those are different judgements made by different parties. The standard does require organisations to identify and evaluate their legal and other requirements, so an auditor will test whether that process exists and works, without ruling on legal compliance itself.
Thirty-one CPD credits — an attestation of course completion is issued on finishing the course. These count toward the CPD requirements of the Australian Institute of Health and Safety, ISACA, IIA Australia, and other professional bodies on submission.
Yes. Either complete checkout yourself and forward the Stripe tax invoice for reimbursement, or write to Academy@aegentra.com.au and we will issue an invoice direct to your organisation with payment terms. For group enrolments, request a written quote confirming the current price, payment terms and inclusions before purchase.
Self-Study — Typical total learning effort: 35–45 hours. Course-day equivalent: approximately 5 training days. eLearning — Typical total learning effort: 35–45 hours. Course-day equivalent: approximately 5 training days. These are typical total-learning-effort estimates. They are separate from the 12-month access period, exam duration, any live-class calendar span, and professional-experience requirements.
After payment, the Academy team confirms your enrolment with PECB and you receive login details by email — usually within one business day.
You have 12 months of access from enrolment. That window covers the course material, the official PECB exam, and one free resit if you need it.
One PECB-issued resit is included in your enrolment at no extra cost. Aegentra does not publish a pass-rate claim without an audited cohort dataset.
Questions about invoicing, GST, group bookings, refunds or instructor-led delivery? Read the Academy FAQ.
Entry-level pathway to ISO 45001 — occupational health and safety concepts and the OH&S MS requirements, Clauses 4 to 10.
Establish, implement, manage, and maintain an occupational health and safety management system based on ISO 45001.