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ISO 14000 Overview

An overview of ISO 14001 standards and focus

Guaranteed Registration

ISO 14000 is a series of international standards that address environmental issues.  ISO 14001:2004 is an environmental management standard that defines a set of Environmental Management System (EMS) requirements.

The purpose of this standard is to help diverse organizations protect the environment—to prevent pollution—and to improve their overall environmental performance.  In other words, it is what an organization does to:

• Minimize harmful effects on the environment caused by its activities, and to

• Achieve continual improvement of its environmental performance

ISO 14001 specifies requirements for establishing an environmental policy; determining environmental aspects and impacts of products, activities and services; planning environmental objectives and setting measurable targets; implementation and operation of programs to meet the objectives and targets; auditing and corrective action, and environmental management review.

The Standard is conformance-based, rather than compliance-based.  It is built on a quality foundation of focusing on prevention and systemic causes of non-conformances.  Since it is preventive-driven, the EMS Standard focuses on continual environmental improvement, always striving to achieve the environmental objectives - and then raising the bar.  Problems are viewed as opportunities for improvement.  The EMS, however, must be kept flexible and practical.

An organization does not need to be in compliance with environmental regulations to be registered to ISO 14001.  They must have programs in place, however, that helps them to strive toward regulatory compliance - environmental objectives and targets.  Since regulations are constantly changing along with interpretations of complex requirements, it would not be reasonable to assume that every organization is in compliance with every regulation.

Environmental Management Systems are good for business.  When properly implemented and clearly communicated, an EMS program can improve customer and public relations while providing significant cost savings to the business.  Proof of a responsible approach is fast becoming a key purchasing consideration.

Relationship between ISO 14001 and ISO 9001

The impetus for developing the international environmental management standard was twofold.  First it was the widespread success of the quality management system standards (ISO 9000 series).

Second, company executives throughout the world are being challenged with the compelling need to exercise environmental responsibility—and they are being required to manage their operations accordingly.  So, there are direct similarities between the two management system standards.

The technical committees responsible for each standard (TC 207 and TC 176) have established a joint task force whose objective is to ensure compatibility between the two series.  While it is unlikely that ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 will ever be combined, there is a goal for these standards to remain compatible and complementary.

There are several major differences between the standards.  The additional requirements imposed by ISO 14001 include:

► Specific policy requirements

► Environmental policy

► Aspects and impacts identification

► Development of objectives and targets

► Method for measuring the degree of meeting environmental impacts

► Method for measuring conformance of the EMS with appropriate legislation

► Procedure for handling emergency responses

► Procedure to address external communication

► Procedure that addresses EMS operational controls

► Procedure for auditing the EMS to ensure conformance to regulatory compliance

ISO 14000 Overview