ISO 14001 Frequently Asked Questions?

What is the ISO 14001 Standard?

The ISO 14001 standard provides organizations with the framework for an effective environmental management system (EMS) focussed on achieving their environmental and economic goals and objectives. 

The overall goal is to protect the environment; prevent pollution and to continually improve overall environmental performance and regulatory compliance. ISO 14001 defines best practice requirements for proactive management of the environmental impact of your organization.

In 1996, the International Organization of Standardization published the first edition of ISO 14001 EMS standard. It is an international voluntary standard describing specific requirements for an EMS. ISO 14001 is considered the foundational document of a family of EMS documents published by the ISO organization.

While part of a series of EMS standards, ISO 14001 is the only standard that specifies requirements to which an organization may receive certification by a Certification Body. ISO published the new ISO 14001:2004 EMS on November 15, 2004, allowing organizations currently certified to ISO 14001:1996 until May 15, 2006 to make the transition to the new standard, and old standard will expire at that time.

The ISO 14001:2004 standard is generic and does not prescribe specific environmental performance policies, objectives or targets. These are defined internally by the organization or established externally by state, federal or international regulations and laws. While not prescriptive, ISO 14001 does expect organizations to make specific commitments to regulatory compliance, prevention of pollution, and continual improvement.

The success of an EMS depends on the commitment from all levels and functions within an organization, especially top management.

What is the definition of an Environmental Management System (EMS)?
An environmental management system, as defined in ISO 14001, is the part of an organization’s overall management system that relate to the development, implementation, achievement, review, and maintenance of the organization’s environmental policy.

An EMS is a management tool to improve environmental performance by providing a systematic way of managing an organization’s environmental affairs. It provides organizations, an orderly and consistent process to address environmental concerns through the allocation of resources, assignment of responsibility and ongoing evaluation of practices, procedures and processes, while focusing on continual improvement of the system. The focus is on both the immediate and long-term impacts of its products, services and processes on the environment 

Stakeholders are increasingly insisting that organizations work actively to reduce any impact its operations have on employees and the public, local communities, and the environment.

Since it was first published in 1996, ISO 14001 has rapidly become the most important international environmental standard. It has established itself as a cornerstone of effective business practice along with the management of quality, security, and health and safety issues.

Can ISO 14001:2004 be integrated with ISO 9001 and other management systems?
ISO 14001 shares many common management system concepts, principles and requirements with ISO 9001 and OHSAS 18001 system standards. While the technical requirements of these standards may differ, the management and administrative requirements of these standards are very much the same in many cases. Similar clauses include: management review, document control, and corrective and preventive action.

Many organizations have successfully integrated these systems. The ISO organization as well as Certification Bodies have a longer-term objective to provide integrated auditing services for these standards. Not all interested parties necessarily agree that this is the right way to go.

What are the ISO 14000 family of standards?
ISO 14000 refers to a family of voluntary standards and guidance documents to help organizations address environmental issues on how to manage the environmental aspects of their activities, products, and services more effectively. These include:

• ISO 14001:2004 environmental management system requirements
• ISO 14004:2004 general guidelines, principles and system support techniques;
• ISO 19011:2002 - Guidelines for quality and/or environmental management systems auditing
• ISO 14015:2001 on the environmental assessment of sites and organizations.
• ISO 14025 on environmental labels and declarations
• ISO 14040 dealing with principles and requirements for conducting and reporting life cycle assessment studies
• ISO 14044 specifies requirements and guidelines on life cycle assessment of environmental aspects and their potential impacts throughout a products life cycle
• ISO 14050:2002 on the vocabulary used in environmental management;

Other new drafts include:

• ISO 14063, which gives organizations guidance on general policies and strategies with examples, to help improve internal and external environmental communication.

As stated earlier ISO 14001:2004 is the only standard that an organization can get certified too. The rest provide guidance on concepts, principles, terminology, specific issues and continual improvement.

Who does ISO 14001 apply to?
ISO 14001:2004 can be applied to any type of business; organization or industry; service or manufacturing sector; for profit or non-profit operations; and irrespective of their size,. A wide range of industries, including; Agriculture, Forestry & Mining; Petrochemicals & Plastics, Food, Tobacco, Textiles & Wood products, Electronics & Instruments, Manufacturing, Metals & Machinery, etc. have taken an active role in implementing this standard.

Note: Registration to ISO 14001 has become a requirement for some sectors and organizations, eg., the automotive industry has placed requirements for ISO 14001 registration of supply chain manufacturing facilities.

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