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What is ISO 14001?
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ISO
14001 is the internationally recognised standard for the environmental
management of businesses. It prescribes controls for those activities
that have an effect on the environment. These include the use of
natural resources, handling and treatment of
waste and energy
consumption.
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The Benefits of implementing ISO 14001
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Implementing
an Environmental Management System is a systematic way to discover and
control the effects your company has on the environment. Cost savings
can be made through improved efficiency and productivity. These are
achieved by detecting ways to minimise waste and dispose of it more
effectively and by learning how to use energy more efficiently. It verifies
compliance with current legislation and makes insurance cover
more accessible.
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Why seek certification to ISO 14001?
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Once
you have an environmental management system in place, you may choose to
have it externally audited. Following a successful audit by an
accredited certification body, you will be issued with a certificate of
registration to ISO 14001. This demonstrates that your organisation is
committed to environmental issues and is prepared to work towards
improving the environment. It also gives a competitive edge to the
company's marketing and enhances its image in the eyes of customers, employees
and shareholders.
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How do you start to implement ISO 14001? What is involved?
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Evaluate
your environmental effects and prioritise to them. Identify the
boundaries of your management system and document your procedures for
implementing the requirements of ISO 14001. 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.
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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. |
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Audit to ISO 14001
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Having
chosen a third party accredited certification body for your audit, it
will review your documentation and carry out an initial audit of your
site. This looks at the company's evaluation of environmental effects
and ascertains if targets set for the management programme are
measurable and achievable. This is followed at a later date by a full
audit to ensure that records and working practices demonstrate that the
company is working to its procedures.
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After
a successful audit, a certificate of registration to ISO 14001 will be
issued. There will then be continual surveillance visits (usually once
or twice a year) to ensure that the system continues to work.
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