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SUBJECT: ISO 14000 Standard, Environmental Management Standard

Alphanumeric Identifier:

BRIEF DESCRIPTION: ISO 14000 is a series of international standards providing organizations with the elements of an environmental management program and system, including environmental auditing, environmental performance evaluation, life cycle assessment and environmental aspects in product standards.

KEYWORDS: ISO 14000, Environmental Management System (EMS), environmental auditing, environmental performance evaluation, compliance with environmental legislation

REFERENCES:

A guide to the Implementation of the ISO 14000 Series on Environmental Management, I. Ritchie, W. Hayes (Prentice Hall 1998)

ISO 14000 and ISO 9000, Brian Rothery (Gower 1995)

ISO 14000 Guide — The New International Environmental Standards Guide, J. Cascio, G. Woodside, P. Mitchell (McGraw-Hill, 1996)

OVERVIEW:

The ISO 14000 series are a process oriented guide for managing Environmental Management Systems (EMS) similar to quality systems and ISO 9000. The basic idea behind is that the standard provides the foundational concepts for sustainable development manifested in an EMS.

An environmental management system is a part of the overall management system for developing, implementing, achieving, reviewing, and maintaining the environmental policy. It also encompasses the organizational structure, planning activities, responsibilities, processes and resources in the area of environmental management. Safety and health management aspects can be included into an EMS.

ISO 14001, a standard set by the International Standards Organization, provides the framework to managing environmental issues while imposing requirements on policy statement, training, document control, corrective actions, management control, and continuous improvement. In addition it requires management to set objectives and targets, identifying environmental impacts and a commitment to conform to applicable regulations. ISO 14001 does not establish absolute requirements for environmental performance beyond a commitment to continual improvement and prevention of pollution and compliance with environmental regulations and legislation - adoption of ISO 14001 does not guarantee environmental compliance or a nonpolluting company. It supports companies that implement these commitments improving their environmental performance.

A certification through a third party auditor results in the registration of the company’s EMS compliance with the standard. The main driver for ISO 14000 is compliance with legislation often going along with better insurance terms (lower risk and better visibility to insurers), higher acceptance in the public and more motivation of employees through continual improvement in the workplace. Complying with such standards is important to companies because they facilitate trade and remove trade barriers, improve environmental performance worldwide and build a global consensus to promote environmental management. In many cases, especially in the industrial countries, complying with environmental standards is becoming a standard requirement for doing business and being listed as a supplier.

The requirement in ISO 14001 to build and operate an EMS focuses the organization’s efforts on establishing reliable and consistent approaches to environmental protection while involving the whole organization. Although implementing an EMS and ISO 14000 can be extremely expensive, it has shown that overall costs often can be decreased over the long run through the improvements implemented by the EMS and savings of resources achieved as a result of environmental targets and management. Furthermore such systems as described above allow companies, often in combination with quality management systems such as ISO 9000 to attain a competitive advantage.

Current practices and changes influencing the subject include the integration of quality and environmental management systems to TQEM (Total Quality and Environmental Management) and Eco-Audits focusing on environmental mass flow analyses and environmental aspects of production and products. In the US, the automakers potentially will develop a QS-14000 program and require their suppliers having joint QS 9000 and ISO 14000 certifications. In Europe EMS are widely common and accepted, if not even required for industries such as chemicals, petro-chemical, textiles, and food and agricultural due to legislation and public pressures and sensitivity.