ISO 14001 Environment Management Systems
ISO 14001 is an internationally accepted standard that sets out how can an organization, put an effective Environmental Management System (EMS). The standard is designed to address the delicate balance between maintaining profitability and reducing environmental impact; with the commitment of your entire organization, it can enable you to achieve both objectives.
What’s in ISO 14001:
General requirements
Environmental policy
Planning implementation and operation
Checking and corrective action
Management review
This means you can identify aspects of your business that impact on the environment and understand those environmental regulation that are relevant to your situation. The next step is to set objectives for improvement and a management programme to achieve them, with regular reviews for continual improvement.
Who is it relevant to?
Environmental impact is becoming an increasingly important issue across the globe, with pressure to minimize that impact coming from a number of sources: local and national governments, regulators, trade associations, customers, employees and shareholders. Social pressures are also building up from the growing array of interested parties, such as consumer, environmental and minority non-governmental organizations (NGOs).
So ISO 14001 is relevant to every organization, including:
Single site to large multi-national companies
High risk companies to low risk service organizations
Manufacturing, process and the service industries; including local governments
All industry sectors including public and private sectors
Original equipment manufacturers and their suppliers
The Benefits of implementing ISO 14001
Please click here to find Expected Outcomes for Accredited Certification to ISO 14001.
Certification to ISO 14001 allows you to:
Demonstrate a commitment to achieving legal and regulatory compliance to regulators and government
Demonstrate your environmental commitment to stakeholders
Demonstrate an innovative and forward thinking approach to customers and prospective employees
Increase your access to new customers and business partners
Better manage your environmental risks, now and in the future
Potentially reduce public liability insurance costs
Enhance your reputation
How do you start to implement ISO 14001?
Firstly, you need to evaluate organization’s impact on the environment. You then need to prioritise those impacts in which you might reduce them.
Next, identify the boundaries of your management system and document your procedures for implementing the requirements of ISO 14001. You will need to ensure these procedures are implemented and then audited. If you have ISO 9000 systems in place, many of the requirements of ISO 14001 will already be covered, or can be easily incorporated into them.
Once developed, internal audits are needed to ensure the system carries on working. The setting of targets for the environmental policy and continual measuring against it ensures the system is maintained.
Initial Certification Audit (Assessment) to ISO 14001
Once all the requirements of ISO 14001 have been met, it is time for an external audit. This should be carried out by a third party, accredited certification body, as Vericert Company.
We will review your documentation and carry out an initial audit of your site (often called 'phase 1'). This will look at the company's evaluation of environmental effects and ascertain if targets set for the management programme are measurable and achievable. This is followed at a later date by a full audit (phase 2) to ensure that records and working practices demonstrate that the company is following its procedures.
If you are interested in co work with us or if you have any questions we are just one click or call away from all the guidance you need.
Where to obtain further information or help
For more information about this service feel free to contact us by phone. We will be pleased to help you.