ISO 14001: 2015 Environment Management

ISO 14001 sets out the criteria for an environmental management system and can be certified to. It maps out a framework that a company or organization can follow to set up an effective environmental management system.

Designed for any type of organization, regardless of its activity or sector, it can provide assurance to company management and employees as well as external stakeholders that environment impact is being measured and improved.

ISO 14001 provides requirements with guidance for use that relate to environmental systems. Other standards in the family focus on specific approached such as audits, communications, labelling and life cycle analysis, as well as environmental challenge such as climate change.

Using ISO 14001: 2015 has many benefits for organizations with environmental management system. Organizations and companies find that using the standard helps them:

• Improve resource efficiency
• Reduce waste
• Drive down costs
• Provide assurance that environmental impact is being measured
• Gain competitive advantage in supply chain design
• Increase new business opportunities
• Meet legal obligations
• Increase stakeholder and customer trust
• Increase new business opportunities
• Improve overall environmental impact
• Manage environmental obligations and consistency

Integrating management system standards can increase focus while reducing the potential for confusion. Elements of ISO 9001 can be enhanced with corresponding components of ISO 14001.

• Drafting a policy statement and quantifiable objectives
• Setting up organizational charts and job descriptions
• Providing adequate resources
• Managing documentation for both standards in a single document control system
• Appointing a management representative as well as coordinator for the quality and environmental management system.

When adding ISO 14001 components to those of ISO 9001, planning must be expanded to deal with environmental impacts, and the inspection and test systems modified to cover environmental conformance. The organization must meet the environmental expectations of customers and the government, and it must incorporate environmental management elements into internal audit program and training sessions.