ISO 14001:2015
Environmental Management System

What is ISO 14001:2015

The worldwide standard ISO 14001 covers the planning and implementation of an environmental management system (EMS). In order to ensure that you do not overlook crucial components required for an EMS to be effective, the ISO 14001 requirements provide a framework and guidelines for developing your environmental management system.

History of ISO 14001:2015

The evolution of ISO 14001 over time is a reflection of the expanding and constantly evolving demands of citizens and customers regarding the environmental performance of businesses. The British Standards Institute released BS 7750 in reaction to a growing demand from organisations that were being asked to prove their environmental credentials prior to the release of the ISO 14001 Environmental Management Standard. The initial version of ISO 14001, which was released in 1996, was built on the principles of BS 7750. According to the organization’s need to define environmental policies and goals, the original ISO 14001 standard established some minimum requirements. The main emphasis was on managing adverse environmental effects and reducing waste. The 14001 Standard’s next revision aimed to enhance the baseline requirements and added more standards for compliance requirements. Organizations also had to make a distinction between factors they could impact and factors they directly affected. As a consequence, organisations were forced to act as “Change Agents,” which led to supply chain improvements.

  • The most recent version of the ISO 14001 standard incorporates the risk-based strategy and enables the organisation to prioritise risks and opportunities that are pertinent to it. A company is motivated to create a more thorough environmental strategy and action plan when paired with minimum demands, like compliance with laws, and commitments, like the prevention of pollution.

The latest version of 14001:2015

The ISO 14001 has been updated three times, with each update aiming to better user experience and environmental performance. Since its publication in September 2015, the ISO 14001 standard has undergone significant improvement. ISO 14001:2015 has replaced ISO 14001:1996 and ISO 14001:2004 as the standard’s most recent and improved form.

Any company, regardless of size or type of business, must comply with the most recent version of ISO 14001 (ISO 14001:2015). If put into practise, the organisation will be better able to control the environmental effects and parts of its operations, systems, and activities.

The Intent of ISO 14001:2015

Due to the risks and opportunities missed by not obtaining certification to an environmental management standard like ISO 14001, organisations should think about getting certified. Regardless of how you conduct business, there are ways to lessen the impact of your side projects and improve how much of an influence your organisation has on the environment. Customers are increasingly making purchasing decisions based on companies’ environmental commitments, so you run the chance of being known as the company that doesn’t consider environmental issues when conducting business. With certification, you can clearly communicate the environmental concerns you’re working to minimise to your team, clients, suppliers, and stakeholders while also gaining a deeper grasp of how your business functions.

The possibility of being qualified for more lucrative, large-scale, and government contracts that are only made available to companies that can demonstrate their commitment to reducing environmental impacts in their operations is perhaps more significant than certification to an environmental management system like ISO 14001.

ISO 14001:2015 Structure (EoMS)

There are ten parts in the ISO 14001 structure. The first three are introductory, and the final seven are the environmental management system’s criteria. The seven principal parts are described as follows:

Context Of The Organisation

To implement an EMS, you must first comprehend your organisation, which is covered in this section. It contains the requirements for defining the scope of the EMS, identifying the procedures necessary for the EMS, identifying interested parties and their expectations, and identifying internal and external issues.

Leadership

The top management must play a key role in the EMS’s execution, which is covered by the leadership requirements. By ensuring environmental commitment, defining and communicating the environmental policy, and delegating roles and responsibilities across the company, top management needs to show their commitment to the EMS.

Planning

The EMS’s continuing operation must be planned for by top management as well. The organization’s EMS must be evaluated for risks and opportunities, and environmental goals for development must be determined. Then, strategies must be developed to achieve these goals. In addition, the organisation must evaluate all interactions and effects of its operations on the environment, in addition to the obligations it has under the law and other obligations.

Support

The management of all EMS resources is covered in the support part, along with requirements for competence, awareness, communication, and controlling recorded information.

Operation

In addition to the need to identify potential emergency situations and plan responses so that you are ready to respond should an emergency occur, the operation requirements cover every element of the environmental controls required by the organisational processes.

Performance Evaluation

The prerequisites listed in this part ensure that you can track the efficiency of your EMS. Internal audits, environmental compliance evaluations, process tracking and measurement, and ongoing management reviews of the EMS are all included.

Improvement

The requirements required to improve your EMS over time are included in this final section. This calls for evaluating process nonconformity and implementing process corrections.

QUALITY PRINCIPLES OF ISO 14001:2015

The Plan-Do-Check-Act methodology, which is a system founded on the idea of continuous improvement, is the foundation of the ISO 14001 Standard. There are five phases and a total of 17 components that it covers.

Environmental Policy (Plan)

Examine procedures and outputs to pinpoint present operational components and their effects on the environment. During the planning process, future operations are also evaluated to see how they might affect various environmental aspects. Direct impact (manufacturing process) or indirect (raw materials).

Planning (Do)

Determine the tools that are needed and record all steps. Success depends on participation and communication, particularly in top management roles.

Implementation And Operation (Check)

Measure and monitor processes. Report data and results.

Checking And Correcting Action (Act)

Utilize a scheduled management meeting to confirm that goals are being attained. To decide whether corrective action is required, data collected in stage 3 is used. Adjust as required.

Management Review (Continual Improvement Process) :

Based on three factors that progressively transition the company’s approach to addressing environmental challenges and concerns from operational environmental measurement to a more strategic one. Dimensions include

● Making the environmental management standards relevant for more and more businesses
● Bringing more processes, products, resources and activities under the purview of EMS

Know All About ISO 14001

Important Terms And Definitions used in ISO 14001 EMS standard

  • Environment : This consists of the surroundings in which an organisation operates including air, water, land, natural resources, flora, fauna, humans and their interconnectedness.
  • Environmental Aspect : Environmental shift, positive or negative, total or partial, brought on by an organization’s environmental aspects.
  • Environmental Impact : Any environmental change—harmful or constructive—caused entirely or in part by the environmental aspects of an entity.
  • Management System : The collection of interconnected or engaging components that make up an organization’s policies, goals, and procedures for achieving those goals.
  • Compliance Obligations : Requirements that an entity must comply with legally as well as other requirements that it may choose to comply with.

Documentation for ISO 14001

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ISO 14001 (Environmental Management System) standard requires different documentation from the organizations.

  • The list of mandatory documents includes the following

    • Scope of the EMS (clause 1)
    • Environmental Policy (clause 5.2)
    • Environmental aspects (clause 6.1.2)
    • Environmental objectives and planning to achieve them (clause 6.2)
    • Operational planning and control (clause 8.1)
    • Emergency preparedness and response (clause 8.2)

  • Additionally, the mandatory records include at least the following:

    • Compliance obligations (clause 6.1.3)
    • Competence (clause 7.2)
    • Communication (clause 7.4)
    • Monitoring, measurement, analysis and evaluation (clause 9.1)
    • Internal audit (clause 9.2)
    • Internal audit programme(clause 9.2.2)
    • Management review (clause 9.3)
    • Nonconformity and corrective actions (clause 10.2)
  • Also, there are certain non-mandatory documents to be used for ISO 14001 implementation

    • Understanding the organization and its context (A.4.1) Understanding the needs and expectations of interested parties ( A.4.2)
    • Procedure for identification and evaluation of environmental aspects and risks (clause 6.1.1 and 6.1.2)
    • Competence, training and awareness procedures (clause 7.2 and 7.3)
    • Procedure for communication (clause 7.4)
    • Procedure for document and record control (clause 7.5)
    • Procedure for internal audit (clause 9.2)
    • Procedure for management review (clause 9.3)
    • Procedure for management of non-conformities and corrective actions (clause 10.2)

ISO 14001:2015 Certification Process

ISO 14001 Certification from Syndicate International Systems adheres to the following steps :

Application

You will need to fill in an application form in order for SIS to understand your company, the complexity and requirements. You can do this by completing our online quote request form. We will use this information to accurately define the scope of assessment and provide you with a proposal for certification.

Assessment

Once you’ve agreed with our proposal, your assessments will be booked with a SIS Assessor. This assessment consists of two mandatory visits that form the Initial Certification Audit. Please be aware that you must be able to show that your management system has been fully operational for at least three months, has undergone a management review, and has gone through an entire cycle of internal audits.

Initial Certification Audit - Stage 1

This assessment is to check that your organisation is ready for a full fledged documentation review. This will take place at your management system center.
Your system must be in compliance with ISO 9001 certification requirements before you submit it to an outside audit. Internal auditing is a crucial stage prior to certification, as a result.

During Stage 1 Assessment, your assessor will :

● Verify the information you provided during the application procedure is accurate
● Verify that the management system complies with the standard’s criteria.
● Verify the status of your management system’s implementation (s)
● Verify the scope of Certification
● Analysis of legal compliance

The output of Stage 1 Assessment will be

● a report outlining any areas of concern (AOCs) that, if not resolved, could be brought up during the stage 2 evaluation as non-conformances
● Scheduling of Stage 2 assessment visit
● An assessment plan for the Stage 2 Assessment

Initial Certification Audit - Stage 2

This evaluation’s goal is to verify that the management system complies with the chosen standard’s criteria in every way. Your assessor will also need to audit these activities / locations if you perform site work or want to include more than one spot in the scope of your certification.

During Stage 2 assessment, your assessor will:
● document how the system conforms with the standard by using objective evidence
● conduct mock audits of the procedures and tasks listed in the certification’s purview
● if there are any remote locations, additional sites, or remote activities, you should tour them to assess how successful the management system is elsewhere
● Please share any inconsistencies or areas for improvement.
● Set a schedule for the first annual surveillance visit and create a surveillance plan.

If the assessor finds any significant non-conformances, certification cannot be given until the corrections have been made and are confirmed. According to accreditation requirements, certification cannot be suggested without a subsequent stage 2 assessment if this is not finished within 6 months.

Certification

It is determined whether your operations and procedures satisfy the necessary requirements for certification within the relevant standard or standards after a successful two-stage audit. As a result, a certification judgement is made, and if it is favourable, SIS issues certification to the necessary standard. A hard copy and a digital duplicate of the certification will be given to you.

Benefits of ISO 14001

Why you should implement ISO 14001 in your organisation?

The advantages of ISO 14001 cannot be overstated; as was already noted, both large and small businesses have successfully implemented this standard. Just a few of these advantages are as follows:

Improve your Image and Credibility

Maintaining a positive public image and strengthening relationships with the community will help you increase your market share and reassure consumers that you are committed to demonstrating management of your environmental impacts.

Managing Cost

Cost reduction is one enhancement that all businesses seek. The EMS can assist with this by conserving energy and input materials, minimising incidents that could subject a business to liability costs, and improving environmental controls could assist in obtaining insurance at a lower cost to the company.

Use evidence-based decision making

You can significantly increase the likelihood that your improvements will be effective the first time rather than requiring multiple unsuccessful attempts by making sure that you are using accurate data to inform your decisions on what to improve. Utilizing this data to monitor your development will allow you to make corrections to these improvement efforts before they “go off the rails,” which can help you save money and time.

Strategizing for continual Improvement

In order to improve your public image and perhaps lower your costs, as mentioned above, you can work towards better processes and reduced environmental effects in a systematic manner with continuous improvement. The EMS is simpler to maintain when a culture of improvement is established because people are constantly looking for ways to improve their processes.

Engage Your People

Most people would choose to work for the first business if given the option between two employers who exhibit care and concern for their surroundings. You can improve employee focus and retention by getting your staff involved in a group endeavour to lessen your environmental impact.

Relevant Industries For ISO 14001

Agriculture And Farming Industry

One of the oldest and most important sectors of the economy is agriculture, which provides the population with the food it needs to live. However, some agricultural methods and practises are not environmentally friendly, harming the environment and contaminating the air.

Making wise decisions is essential for farming operations to remain on top of management and ahead of the competition. Agriculture ISO certifications direct farmers to the finest techniques, equipment, and tools for achieving these objectives. SIS Certifications is a recognised accreditation organisation with expertise in the agricultural sector. We will provide you with the audits required for certification and company improvement.

Challenges In Agriculture And Farming Industry

There is a greater need for food as the world’s population grows, so food production must rise. The focus on accelerated food supply creates problems with

Increased use of pesticides, plant breeding, fertilizers, agronomy, and technological advancements have all contributed to higher agricultural yields. But many of these actions have contributed to environmental deterioration, global warming, and deforestation. Air pollution is a result of burning fossil fuels to power agricultural equipment.

Meat production has grown as a result of modern selective breeding techniques and technology advancements. In some instances, this high output is detrimental to animal welfare. Large quantities of livestock contribute to air pollution, and the animals may be reared in ways that are unhealthy for them. Growth hormones and antibiotic resistance may also be impacted by industrial meat manufacturing methods.

With the invention of agricultural machinery, automatic irrigation systems, and mechanized feedlots, farming activities have become more industrialized.

During food production, distribution, storage, consumption, processing, and handling, the agricultural sector wastes a lot of food.

More people than ever before reside in urban places, far from the rural areas’ food sources. Farmers are under pressure to sell their property by communities and developers as urban areas continue to expand.

Chemical Industry

Because its raw materials are used to make so many other goods, the chemical industry is essential to the world economy. Chemical firms must operate effectively while adhering to legal and environmental requirements due to the industry’s intense competition.

Businesses in the chemical sector with ISO accreditation can use best practices to differentiate themselves from the competition. The certification organization NQA has years of experience working with customers in the chemical industry. We will perform audits to award certifications to your preferred standard, improving productivity, client satisfaction, and financial success.

Challenges In the Chemical Industry

Challenges within the Chemical Industry are :

Your company’s employees, image, and the environment could all be harmed by natural occurrences in the area where your supplies are sourced. Because consumers perceive environmental damage negatively, it is necessary to restore the environment for the benefit of the neighborhood and your business’s image.

Chemical producers are under pressure to consider how their operations and products will impact public health in addition to the ecosystem. Specialized chemical types might require the management of hazardous reagents, and their manufacturing might result in significant emissions.

Your chemical business may face logistical and financial difficulties as a result of the product’s origin. Transportation may be difficult and costly due to the distance. Geopolitical unrest may disrupt the region’s supply network, which would impact the goods produced by your business.

Chemical businesses require full disclosure of the business practices of their suppliers. This information guarantees the raw materials are of high grade. Additionally, supplier methods must adhere to GMP regulations, security standards, and environmental policies.

Complex and numerous trade agreements may give rise to disputes that harm the business operations of your chemical firm. Supply interruptions brought on by geopolitical events and the erratic character of currency exchange are some of the causes of these disputes.

Future Of ISO 14001

Businesses are looking to ISO 14001 certification as the way of the future due to the increased attention being paid to the environment globally. Everyone is making an effort to limit their negative effect on our fragile environment. Additionally, companies must now assume responsibility for their environmental effect.

Organizations can guarantee that they put an emphasis on the environment by using ISO 14001 NZ. By putting in place an environmental management system (EMS), you can reduce the effect you have on the environment. This lowers your expenses for waste, water, electricity, and other forms of energy. It is a framework that your organisation can use to determine its environmental effect. An EMS also clarifies pollution risks and controls, makes sure you follow legal requirements, and guarantees your compliance.

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