The scope briefly explains the purpose of the International Standard, how it is written, and how it should be interpreted. The normative references for this standard are empty.

The terms and definitions section in ISO 14001 briefly explains terms that are frequently used within the standard. This includes terms like ‘conformity’, ‘top management’, and even ‘environment’ itself. Terms and definitions will be useful for those unfamiliar with ISO standards and the language frequently employed.

This section is present in many ISO standards, and ISO 14001 is no exception. Here, the focus is on understanding the nature of your company:

• What do we do?
• How are we affected be internal and external factors?
• Who are our interested parties?

Your understanding of company context will facilitate the effective planning, implementation, and maintenance of your environmental management system. Why? Because organizational context feeds into the design of your processes, the allocation of responsibilities and authorities for those processes, and monitoring and measurement techniques, just to name a few areas.

In simple terms, without fully understanding your organizational context, your environmental management system will be unfit for your company. Environmental risks will not be properly addressed meaning some risks may be over-inflated and some may be under-inflated, making the mitigation of environmental issues less effective.

There are a range of methods employed by companies to understand the organizational context, and there is no right or wrong method so long as the company context is sufficiently understood. A PESTLE analysis is a commonly employed technique. You can read more about PESTLE analysis by clicking here.

Like many other ISO standards, it is made clear that top management have their part to play. Without the commitment of top management, there will be a lack of leadership and accountability for the establishment, implementation and maintenance of the environmental management system. It may also lead to improper or lack of resources allocated to the management system which could lead to major environmental nonconformities.

It is key that those responsible for the management system at all levels are clearly identified. This can be reflected by an organizational chart.

From this, a clear environmental policy can be established. This will disclose things like:

• A commitment to continuous improvement of the environmental management system
• How environmental objectives will be set.
• A commitment to the protection of the environment, such as reducing pollution where feasible and any other specific commitments relevant to the wider organizational context (section 4).

To help plan the details of the environmental management system it is important to create a means to address risks and opportunities already identified in section 4, as well as identify the significant environmental aspects & impacts related to your organisation’s operations.

It is also important to plan how wider changes to the organization will impact the environmental management system, and mitigation strategies need to be ready to protect the integrity of the management system against these changes. For instance, if a company is expanding at a rapid rate through acquisitions, acquired companies must be quickly brought up to speed with the company’s wider management system if they are to be contained within the scope of the ISO 14001 certificate.

What is meant by ‘support?’ Simply, it is everything that is required to support the quality management system:

• How internal and external communication relevant to the management system will be achieved.
• How documented information related to the environmental management system, such as a wastewater discharge log, will be controlled.
• Resources needed (such as machinery, software or raw materials).
• The knowledge and skills required by workers.
• The awareness amongst workers of the management system itself.

The ‘operation’ section is relevant to the day-to-day operation of the environmental management system.

For instance:

• If any functions and processes related to quality are outsourced, these partners must be controlled.
• How will wider changes to the company influence the management system. For instance, if a company grows in size and increases its production levels, will waste as a side effect of production increase beyond what is allowed in the company’s waste permit?
• Implementing plans for any environmental emergencies, how to mitigate them and how to respond to them.

Again, a fairly self-explanatory title! No matter how robust your planning of the management system was prior to the implementation of your environmental policy, there will always be areas of improvement as the company and subsequent circumstances evolve over time.

Here, you evaluate how compliant your environmental management system has been with the ISO 14001 standard and actions to address any non-conformities. Are you achieving your environmental KPIs (key performance indicators)?

Internal audits are a valuable way to measure your compliance with the management system and standard requirements. This can be outsourced to environmental compliance professionals (like us) or you can train internal staff so they can perform the internal audits themselves.

And once the evaluation is completed in section 9, corrective action to address any nonconformities is established and put into action. Again, continual improvement is the idea here, getting small details correct over a lengthy period of time after multiple management reviews.

ISO 14001 is the international standard for environmental management systems from the international organization for standardization, ISO. It covers how aspects of your everyday operations impact the environment and how to manage those impacts.

With growing global concern for the environment, being ISO 14001 demonstrates that you are considering your organization’s environmental implications and are developing strategies to mitigate any negative impacts. It improves the legal compliance and ethical standing of your organization.

Minimise your carbon footprint through reduction in pollution.

Minimise waste, meaning less land pollution.

Promotes the ethical standing of your business.

Cost savings through more efficient usage of raw materials, gas, electricity and water.

A guard against legislative liability.

Reduction in insurance costs.

Improved environmental focus.

ISO 14001 reduces insurance costs.

ISO 14001 reduces energy costs.

ISO 14001 reduces fines associated with poor environmental management.

Have clearly defined environmental targets and objectives.

Ensure environmental legal requirements are met.

Don’t be afraid to use a consultant if you need help. How exactly an EMS is created is dependent on your organization’s unique context.

Set up an EMS (environmental management system) in your organization. Use a consultant if you need help!

Find an accredited certification body.

Get audited and achieve certification.