ISO 14001:2015 – Environmental Management Systems
Published in September 2015, the ISO 14001:2015 Standard supersedes ISO 14001:2004.
ISO 14001:2015 is part of the ISO 14001 Family of Standards.
Why was the ISO 14001 Standard updated and what were the changes?
The business world is continually changing and the Environmental Management Standard has been updated to better fit today’s needs. The environmental context for businesses is more challenging these days in meeting stakeholder expectations, along with the general expectation that modern organisations will become environmental stewards and perform accordingly in all areas of operation.
There’s been a shift towards more service-based businesses worldwide in recent years, and the terminology of the ISO 14001:2015 Standard has been adjusted to make it easier for these service-based organisations to interpret the true intent of the Standard.
A “risk-based thinking” approach has been introduced, to determine the requirements of the business and its management systems. This new approach has enabled a considerable reduction in the prescriptive requirements of the old ISO 14001:2004 Standard, which have been replaced by performance-based requirements, providing greater flexibility for the management systems to suit the needs of the individual organisation. There is now no mandatory requirement for documented procedures! The organisation determines its own requirements to effectively manage its own processes!
There’s more focus on continually identifying opportunities for improvement for future needs and expectations in enhancing the organisation’s environmental performance.
There’s a greater focus on management demonstrating leadership and commitment, and taking greater accountability for the effectiveness of the environmental management system, ensuring integration of the requirements within the business processes, and ensuring it achieves its intended outcomes.
A common framework for all Management System Standards has been introduced to provide greater consistency across all the ISO Management Standards.
The ISO 14001 Standard
The ISO 14001:2015 Standard is all about minimising any negative impacts on the environment (via adverse changes to air, water or land), complying with applicable environmental laws and regulations, and continually improving in these areas.
ISO 14001:2015 provides a framework for better management control with the goal of reducing environmental impact, and higher conformance with environmental legislative and regulatory requirements.
What are the benefits of
the ISO 14001 Standard for your business?
REDUCED COSTS
Via improved operational efficiency and waste reduction
IMPROVED BUSINESS SUSTAINABILITY
With greater operational efficiency, improved internal controls and improved public perception
GREATER COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE
Environmental Certification could be the point of difference that wins your next contract
WIDER MARKET POTENTIAL
Environmental Certification could open up new markets that you didn’t previously quality to tender for
PROMOTES INTERNATIONAL TRADE
When ISO 14001 Certification is achieved
STAKEHOLDER CONFIDENCE
Certification requirements demonstrate an innovative and forward-thinking approach to your customers, and that environmental legal and regulatory requirements are being met and continually monitored
REDUCED BUSINESS RISK
with processes in place to identify, control and continually re-assess the effectiveness of the environmental risk controls in place, throughout the product or service life cycle
What types of businesses will benefit from Certification to the ISO 14001:2015 Standard?
Any business that wants to achieve environmentally sustainable success via improved resource efficiency, reduced waste and reduced costs will benefit from implementation of the ISO 14001:2015 Standard.
Businesses will also benefit from Certification to the ISO 14001 Standard where they need or want to demonstrate this commitment to stakeholders, or where they want to demonstrate this innovative and forward-thinking approach to their customers and their marketplace.
How the ISO 14001 Certification Process Works
Firstly, we’ll work with you to determine exactly which Standards and Certifications are right for your business, what you want to achieve out of the process for your business, and identify any deadlines you need to achieve Certifications by. This is your chance to get all your questions answered!
Then we’ll go through with you what you already have in place and how effective you think it is, and what you’d like to see change. Depending on what you already have, the next step might be a Gap Analysis against the requirements of the Standard – this will give us a to-do list of what needs to be done before commencing the formal Certification process.
When it’s time for your Certification Audit, it’s conducted in two stages:
Stage 1 (Readiness Review) is a full review of your business processes and documented information to ensure all requirements of the Standard (relevant to your business) have been addressed.
Stage 2 (Certification Audit) is an assessment conducted at your office (and project sites, if applicable) to ensure that you actually do what your processes and documented information say you do.
All Certifications run on a three-year cycle, usually with audits 12 months apart, so, this initial audit process is then followed by:
Year 2: Surveillance Audit
Year 3: Surveillance Audit
Then we start again with a Triennial Audit, followed by two annual Surveillance Audits, and the cycle continues…
