Environmental management systems
After the implementation of the ISO 9000 series standards describing the quality management system model, it became clear that the PDCA (Plan-Do-Check-Act) cycle can also be applied to environmental management systems. Since the 70s of the XX century, the world has been increasingly paying attention to the importance of society’s impact on the environment. In 1992, the British Standards Institute proposed the National Environmental Management Standard BS 7750 as the basis for developing an international standard.
The first version of the international standard ISO 14001 was published in 1996. In 2004, a new version of the ISO 14001 standard was released, and in 2015, the latest version was released. The ISO 14001 standard does not offer specific technological approaches and methods for managing environmental impact, does not offer specific environmental indicators, it provides general requirements for the Environmental Management System.
The purpose of ISO 14001 is to support environmental protection and pollution prevention measures while maintaining a balance with the interests of the organization. The environmental management system can be certified to meet the requirements of the ISO 14001 standard. Although such certification is voluntary, such an assessment of the environmental management system by an independent, third party may be required by consumers.
The main requirements of the ISO 14001 standard can be grouped as follows:
- organization context;
- environmental policy (including the obligation to prevent the negative impact of the organization on the environment);
- actions to deal with risks and opportunities;
- environmental aspects;
- environmental goals and planning of their achievements;
- compliance with legal and other requirements;
- implementation and operation;
- competence and training of personnel and contractors;
- preparedness for emergency situations and response to them;
- analysis of performance results;
- analysis by management;
- improvement.
The requirements of ISO 14001 can be implemented in addition to the requirements of ISO 9001, ISO 45001 and other standards. Now there is a tendency to integrate management systems. It is also possible to pass certification of the integrated management system for compliance with several standards at once – this will optimize the cost of certification and get a more complex assessment of the management system.
The ISO 14001 standard applies to almost any organization, including organizations in the public sector of the economy. Recently, the requirements of the standard are increasingly being implemented not only in industrial, transport, and construction organizations, but also in service organizations – including organizations whose activities are based solely on office work.
Benefits of implementation and certification:
The benefits of implementing an environmental management system depend on whether the organization directly or indirectly affects the environment, but usually the following advantages are distinguished:
- a complex approach to managing environmental risks, including reputational and financial risks in case of non-compliance with the requirements;
- reduction of red tape, noticeable resource savings, which are made thanks to the most effective management strategy;
- minimization of payments for negative impact on the environment and nature management and financial costs for eliminating the consequences of possible accidents with an impact on the environment;
- saving resources and increasing the organization’s competitiveness;
- the opportunity to get a loan for the implementation of the best available technologies and grants from international organizations on more favorable terms;
- more effective and efficient audits, both internal and external;
- additional advantages when participating in tenders;
- increasing the value of the company and its image in the eyes of interested parties.