ISO 14001 Accreditation
The International Standard ISO 14001 sets out requirements for an Environmental Management System (EMS) which can be employed by an organization to measure and document their environmental impact. Environmental Management Systems that meet the ISO 14001 requirements can be externally audited and certified by an accredited Certification Body. The certification body must be accredited by the ANSI-ASQ National Accreditation Board in the USA, the United Kingdom Accreditation Service in the UK, or the National Accreditation Board in Ireland. Certification auditors need to be accredited by the International Registrar of Certification Auditors.
General requirements for meeting the ISO 14001 Standard.
The ISO 14001 standard requires that a community or organization put in place and implement a series of practices and procedures that, when taken together, result in an Environmental Management System (EMS). ISO 14001 is not a technical standard and as such does not in any way replace technical requirements embodied in statutes or regulations. It also does not set prescribed standards of performance for organizations. The major requirements of an EMS under ISO 14001 include:
- A policy statement which includes commitments to prevention of pollution, continual improvement of the EMS leading to improvements in overall environmental performance, and compliance with all applicable statutory and regulatory requirements.
- Identification of all aspects of the community organization's activities, products, and services that could have a significant impact on the enviromment, including those that are not regulated
- Setting peformance objectives and targets for the management system which link back to the three comitments established in the community or organization's policy (i.e. prevention of pollution, continual impovement, and compliance)
- Implementing the EMS to meet these objectives. This includes activities like training of employees, establishing work instructions and practices, and establishing the actual metrics by which the objectives and targets will be measured.
- Establishing a program to periodically audit the operation of the EMS
- Checking and taking corrective and preventive actions when deviations from the EMS occur, including periodically evaluating the organization's compliance with applicable regulatory requirements.
- Undertaking periodic reviews of the EMS by top management to ensure its continuing performance and making adjustements to it, as necessary.
ISO 14001, if implemented properly, could serve as a valuable tool to help organizations improve their environmental peformance, increase the use of pollution prevention, and improve compliance.
There are significant benefits of getting certification to the ISO 14001 standard:
- Enhancement of environmental awareness within the organization.
- Cost savings and reduction in resources usage.
- ISO 14001 can be easily integrated into your existing ISO 9001 Quality Management System.
- Improved compliance with legislation.
- An an effective sales tool.
- Competitive advantage - business won from non-ISO 14001 competitors.
- A demonstration to stakeholders of environmental commitment.
- Environmental efforts acknowledged by stakeholders, i.e. environmental awards.
Synergistic Systems integrates ISO 14001 procedures into existing Quality Management Systems. This allows you to use existing resources to efficiently manage and maintain all your QMS processes.
Integrating ISO 14001 into an existing Quality Management System provides an efficient platform for creating and maintaining a comprehensive management framework that addresses all applicable aspects of the ISO/IEC 14001 standard.
