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ISO 14000 facts

ISO 14001, often just referred to just as ISO 14000, was most recently revised in the year 2004 making its current revision level ISO 14001:2004. This standard, published by the International Organization of Standardization, is intended to provide a framework for companies to ensure they can effectively manage and reduce their environmental impact. It applies equally to all organizations, regardless of size, location, or industry. This is quite a tall order and because of this the requirements of the standard can often seem vague, unclear, or even not applicable to your business. Developing an Environmental Management System (EMS) which will support registration to ISO 14001 in the face of this ambiguity can be challenging.

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Environmental Management Systems

ISO 14001

Challenges to Registration and Beyond

The core requirements of ISO 14001 and ISO 9001 have much in common with one another. Therefore many companies will find that attaining registration to either standard is easier if they are already registered to one. If you are already registered to ISO 9001 you can leverage your Document Control, Management Review, Improvement, Internal Audit, Purchasing, and other operational procedures to achieve ISO 14001 registration. If you are not registered to ISO 9001 then you will need to develop/implement many of these same systems.

The difficult aspects of ISO 14001 have mostly to do with the complexity of your environmental impact. Companies that have significant environmental impacts (actual or potential) will likely already have environmental compliance systems and staff and therefore the challenge is in utilizing ISO 14001 as a tool to better manage those resources and to not add unnecessary overhead. For companies with minor environmental impacts, the challenge is in setting up a meaningful environmental management system that addresses the wide array of requirements without creating a system much more complicated that is really necessary.

Beyond the development of the EMS, maintaining the system is of vital importance. Difficulties in maintenance arise often when ISO 14001 is viewed as something that is good for the environment, but a hindrance to business success. In that situation the system will generally languish, as there is always something seemingly more important to do. This drives up the cost of maintaining the system because when people do have to spend time on environmental issues it is more disruptive and often entails re-training, re-orienting, and document modification. Successful companies are those who see that their EMS not only good for the environment, but use it as a tool to improve their business and the bottom line. Improvement opportunities range from lowering compliance costs of regulatory oversight, permits, and fines, to increased efficiency of operations, reduced scrap, lower disposal costs, and improved consumer perception.

As part of our consulting services, we seek to ensure a balance of environmental stewardship and business needs and strive to show how more often than not these can be one and the same goal when conceptualized, defined, and implemented well.