Introduction to ISO 14001
April 2001
With the growth of the global economy, public
awareness of differences between nations' environmental programs spurred the
development of an international standard for environmental sensitivity. This
article examines the ISO 14001 standard, certification, and scheduled revisions.
by Jeff
Slivka
New Day
Underwriting Managers LLC
ISO 14000, in simple terms, is the international roadmap for proactively
managing the environmental aspects of business originated by the International
Organization for Standardization (ISO). The impetus for development of ISO 14000
is largely attributed to public concern. Politically oriented bodies, such as
environmental advocacy organizations, watchdog groups, and the "green" parties
that have established some footholds in government are urging companies to take
responsibility for the effects of their business practices on the environment.
This pressure prompted a number of nations over the past 30 or so years to
impose environmental regulatory controls that assuaged the local public. With
the growth of the global economy in the 1990s, public awareness of differences
between the environmental programs of various nations involved in production
of consumer goods argued for the development of an international standard for
environmental sensitivity.
ISO 14000 is not a single standard, but a series of standards and guidelines,
all of which address some aspect of environmental management. Main topics addressed
include:
- Organization or Process Standards
—Environmental Management Systems
(EMS)
—Environmental Auditing
—Environmental Performance Evaluation
- Product-Oriented Standards
—Environmental Labeling
—Life-Cycle Assessment
—Environmental Aspects in Products
- ISO 14001
—EMS
The primary standard for the overall ISO 14000 program is ISO 14001, "Environmental
Management Systems—Specification with Guidance for Use." This standard presents
the required auditable components necessary to achieve ISO certification of
an Environmental Management System (EMS). It is not a straitjacket; the wording
of the standard leaves a great deal of latitude for corporations to accommodate
their companies' unique characteristics into their EMS.
The basic requirements of ISO are that the EMS incorporate the following
principles:
- Environmental Policy containing the commitment
of management to regulatory compliance, continual improvement and prevention
of pollution. This policy is to be made available to the public.
- Planning to identify the environmental
aspects associated with the organization's operations, set objectives and
develop a management plan.
- Implementation and Operation addressing
responsibilities, training, communications—both internal and external, documentation,
document control, operational control and emergency preparedness/response.
- Checking and Corrective Action that measures
and records achievement against the planning goals, identifies and tracks
correction of deficiencies, and reviews the effectiveness of the EMS.
- Management Review to monitor the program
and make corrections when appropriate.
The ISO approach to an EMS requires the involvement of all corporate resources
as opposed to a few individuals who are relied on by many existing EMSs. This
total involvement, when properly planned and executed, draws ideas and participation
from the entire staff to solve a corporation's identified environmental impact
issues. It is important to note that ISO 14001 is not a regulatory compliance
standard. Rather, it focuses on a corporation's commitment to its stakeholders,
which include the regulatory community. However, assessment of compliance status
is left to the applicable regulatory community.
The Benefits of the ISO Certification
The obvious benefits of an EMS include the positive public response received
by a company that is in tune with the environment. Showing the community that
the company is managing its environmental matters will have a tremendous impact
not only with the people in the community, but also with regulatory agencies.
Additionally, the simple fact that an EMS can effectively reduce or even prevent
environmental disasters from ever occurring directly impacts the company's bottom
line.
Other bottom line benefits of the EMS are less obvious, but no less important.
For instance, we have seen a large number of mergers and acquisitions over the
past few years. Evaluating the worth of a company without an EMS or way of quantifying
material environmental expense may be tricky. In the United States, publicly
traded companies are required by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
to disclose all environmental liabilities and material environmental expenses
associated with future cleanup in the form 10K. An EMS can effectively do this
for many companies. Without it, a company could easily subject itself to unwanted
environmental liability.
As environmental protection and preservation continue to gain momentum across
the globe, it is expected that customers will use ISO as the standard for dealing
with environmental management and require certification in doing business. Companies
that take a proactive approach will benefit and probably see certification as
a competitive advantage.
Lastly, it is expected that ISO 14001 will be a prerequisite for attaining
ISO 9001 recertification. For those companies that have already obtained ISO
9001 certification and/or follow Total Quality Management (TQM) principles,
ISO 14001 certification is the next logical step.
ISO 14000 is an internationally recognized standard. To date, there have
been close to 20,000 companies worldwide that have voluntarily established an
EMS and received ISO 14001 certification. Interestingly enough, the United States
is not a leader in this area. At first thought, it may be difficult to understand
why we "lag behind" on such an issue that has gained great public awareness
in our country. However, keep in mind that ISO 14000 is an internationally recognized,
voluntary standard. In the United States, our compliance standards far exceed
those under ISO 14000.
So, what benefit is ISO 14000 to U.S.-based companies? For companies that
have not established a formal EMS, ISO 14000 is a good standard to follow. It
also serves as a "comparative" standard to what countries are doing on a global
basis. The U.S. companies that benefit most from following ISO 14000 are those
that conduct business globally. For these companies, ISO 14000 provides an established
standard they can follow and, more importantly, the certainty that others with
certification are managing their environmental matters. This is important when
you consider the mergers and acquisitions taking place worldwide.
Revisions
ISO is currently in the process of revising 14001, but no formal process
will be established until 2003. This new document will not contain additional
requirements for certification. Any changes to the existing document will address
two major areas:
- Compatibility with the new ISO 9000 quality management systems series;
and
- Clarification of text within the standard to help users better understand
its requirements.
The simplicity of these changes will not affect the thousands of companies
in various stages of implementation and may actually attract other companies
looking for guidance on environmental management.
For more specific information on ISO 14000, contact CEEM International Environmental
Systems at
www.CEEM.com.
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