BENEFITS OF ISO 14000 By having your organisation's environmental management system independently assessed by the Registration Body, you will be making a powerful statement about your organisation's environmental credentials. Other benefits of ISO 14000 certification include: 1.Better management of environmental risks, now and future. 2. Increased access to new customers and business partners. 3. Demonstration of legal and regulatory compliance 4. Potential for reduced public liability insurance costs 5. Overall cost savings: in terms of consumption, waste and recycling In addition, ISO 14000 is designed to be compatible with other management system standards such as ISO 9001 (Quality), OHSAS 18001 (Health and Safety) and ISO 27001 (Information Security). All or any combination of these complementary standards can be integrated seamlessly. They share many principles, so choosing an integrated management system can provide you with outstanding value for money.
The requirement to establish a procedure for periodically evaluating compliance with applicable legal and other requirements falls short of specifically requiring regulatory compliance audits but, in fact, a system of regular regulatory compliance audits may be the most practical means for meeting this requirement of the standard. In the U.S., determination of whether to conduct a compliance audit will be governed in part by the particular jurisdictions approach to allowing a legal privilege for the self-assessment audit. Evaluation vs. Audit The difference between an evaluation and audit can only be determined by looking outside of ISO 14001. Consulting a dictionary reveals that an evaluation involves a determination of value or worth and that an audit is an examination of accounts done by persons appointed for the purpose. A better definition `is the more specific ISO 19011:2002, Guidelines for Quality and/or Environmental Management Systems Auditing, which defines an audit as a systematic, independent, and documented process for obtaining audit evidence and evaluating it objectively to determine the extent to which the audit criteria are fulfilled. Many organizations do not have a system for evaluating regulatory compliance other than their own records and the inspections of regulatory officials. This lack of a verification system can be a risky way to operate. Reports of enforcement actions and consent agreements show that many organizations are blindsided by rogue employees who violate rules and falsify documents to cover up environmental misdeeds. Although ISO 14001 does not prescribe a specific approach to evaluation of regulatory compliance, organizations should consider methods for going beyond verification of records by collecting and evaluating physical evidence.
ISO 14001 is primarily concerned with Environmental Management. In plain language, this means what the organization does to minimize harmful effects on the environment caused by its activities.
Improving the environmental performance of corporations is one way of limiting environmental damage. Environmental management systems (EMS's), such as ISO 14001, provide a framework for organizations that wish to effectively manage their environmental affairs. Implementing an EMS that conforms to the ISO 14001 standard may help businesses integrate environmental values into their operations.
An EMS can be described as a program of continuous environmental improvement that follows a defined sequence of steps drawn from established project management practice and routinely applied in business management. In simple terms these steps are as follows: • Review the environmental consequences of the operations. • Define a set of policies and objectives for environmental performance. • Establish an action plan to achieve the objectives. • Monitor performance against these objectives. • Report the results appropriately. • Review the system and the outcomes and strive for continuous improvement. Not every system will present these steps in exactly the same way, but the basic principles are clear and easily understandable.
The ISO 14000 series is a series of standards for different aspects of environmental management. A number of these standards relating to environmental management systems have been adopted formally by the members of the ISO, while others are in different stages of preparation.
ISO 14000 is a group of standards covering the following areas: •Environmental Management Systems (14001,14002, 14004) •Environmental Auditing (14010, 14011, 14012) •Evaluation of Environmental Performance (14031) •Environmental Labeling (14020, 14021, 14022, 14023, 14024, 14025) •Life-Cycle Assessment (14040, 14041,14042, 14043)
Quality Management System Requirements The ISO 9001:2008 standard is meant to be generic and applicable to all kinds of organizations. Therefore, organizations from both the public and private sectors, including non-governmental organizations can benefit from the ISO 9001 quality management system model, regardless of whether they are small, medium or large organizations. The immediate benefit that can be realized from the implementation of ISO 9001 is the collective alignment of the activities of internal processes that are focused towards the enhancement of customer satisfaction which will result in many other benefits, whether internal or external. The magnitude of these benefits are determined by how effective the processes are in achieving its objectives.
