A.J. Edwards

Introduction to ISO 14001

This chapter gives an overview of International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 14001 and its requirements. An environmental policy that is consistent with any group or sector policy is relevant to an organizations activities. It commits to prevent pollution, continual improvement, observe relevant legislation, and set environmental objectives and targets and also states how it is made available to all employees and public. Environmental aspects are identified for normal operating conditions, foreseeable deviations, and emergencies. This is documented in the Register of Environmental Aspects. There are procedures for monitoring activities that may impact the environment. Monitoring equipment is calibrated and records are kept. Management periodically reviews the environmental policy and objectives, and the Environmental Management System (EMS) must ensure that they are effective and relevant to the organizations needs in changing circumstances.

Implementation and operation

This chapter provides an overview of an Environmental Management Systems (EMS) implementation and operation. Management has the responsibility to provide necessary resources to implement the EMS in people and their relevant skills, technology, and finance. An agenda item is made on the managements review meetings. The organization needs to have a formal procedure to pass on environmental information to the people within the organization and handling communications with people outside the organization. Registers create the foundation of an EMS, and the procedures are its heart. Operating procedures drive the EMS processes, emergencies, and the administration. Larger organizations need to introduce another level of documentation, the “work instruction,” which states how a particular job is to be carried out.

Introduction to environmental management

This chapter provides an overview of the concept of environmental management, which is to control the activities of an organization to conserve its physical resources by avoiding pollution. The four reasons why every organization should take environmental factors into account in its management processes are ethical, economic, legal, and commercial. Conserving resources and not generating waste products or wasting energy means cost saving. More and more large organizations are taking control of their environmental responsibilities and are also expecting their suppliers and subcontractors to do the same. International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 14001 is developed as a formalized structure for an environmental management system that can be independently assessed for compliance. ISO 14001 can be adopted by any organization. There are no restrictions on the types of activities that can be assessed. The biggest cost is the effort that is put into creating, launching, and maintaining the environmental management system. The aim is to create a simple system that covers all the essentials. Many organizations have found that they save more than the cost of the project in a year simply by giving attention to the way they use energy in the forms of gas or electricity, where they use water, or how much they are paying to dispose of the waste that they need not create.

Checking, corrective action and management review

This clause of the Standard has three parts: ⊙ Measuring impacts to monitor performance and to track progress towards the objectives and targets.

Brief history of environmental standards

This chapter summarizes environmental standards to control environmental pollution. The success of quality management systems, such as British Standard 5750, gave a model for management systems. BS 7750, published in 1992, showed an intention to add new standards to the existing ones. Running along this activity was the European Commissions initiative, the Eco-Management and Auditing Scheme (EMAS), which came into force in 1995 and has overlapped considerably with ISO 14001. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) recognized the need for an international standard called “Environmental Management Systems (EMS)” for environmental monitoring. ISO 14001 is based on BS 7750 and has been in existence since 1996. Organizations that are already certified will be given a substantial time period, in which they need to incorporate the changes into their existing EMS.

The launch (Step 8)

This chapter highlights aspects of the launch of Environmental Management Systems (EMS), which includes the first formal environmental management review meeting, planning document distribution, communication session, and organizing extra training when required. The Operating Procedure 22 contains the standard agenda for environmental management review meetings that comes into play when the EMS is in operation. At this stage, the required agenda items include approval or adoption of the documented EMS, agreement of plans for the communication exercise that will launch the program, decision on any specific training needs, and agreement with the forward timetable leading to assessment. The documented EMS needs to be formally adopted by the board or the top management team for two reasons—it ensures top-level commitment to the project and sets the date when the EMS came into being.

Planning the project

This chapter focuses on project planning by considering the logic of creating a program that includes initiatives ranging from the initial decision to create an Environmental Management System (EMS) to its successful assessment by International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 14001. The program has 11 steps, which includes commitment, resources, communication, environmental legislation and environmental aspects, management objectives and policies, procedures, writing manual, implementation, auditing, choosing assessor, and assessment. A supplier has a process to ensure compliance with all applicable government safety and environmental regulations, including those related to handling, recycling, eliminating, or disposing of hazardous materials as expressed in the QS 9000 standard. Project Acorn, a pilot study, was done jointly by the British Standard Institute (BSI) and the Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions (DETR), which started in mid-2000, involving some large companies and their suppliers. The reason for creating an environmental management system is to stay within the law by knowing what impact activities have on the environment and taking active steps to reduce the impact.

The Environmental Management Manual (Step 7)

This chapter focuses on environmental management manuals that serve a number of purposes. These manuals link the component parts of Environmental Management Systems (EMS) to the clauses and requirements of the standard. The act of writing helps check that all the clauses and requirements of the standard are addressed; it gives assessors a guide to the structure of an EMS. The manual includes environmental policies, issue- and amendment-control sheets, contents, introduction to the organization, and a summary of what is contained in registers and operational procedures. Each clause or subclause of the manual first states how the requirements of the corresponding clause of the standard have been satisfied and then lists the related operational procedures. The Clause 4.4.1 refers to the management of an organization and ideally requires an organizational chart.

Internal environmental auditing (Step 9)

This chapter emphasizes that Clause 4.5.4 of the standard requires an organization to have an auditing program and auditing procedures to determine that its Environmental Management System (EMS) is working as planned and to ensure that there will be feedback of the results. The internal auditing process is an extremely powerful tool for maintaining and improving an organizations performance. The audit program, selection and training of auditors, and reporting of the findings of the audit are important. To ensure that the audit program comprehensively reviews the whole EMS, it is essential to draw up a schedule that groups the procedures under the relevant clause of the standard and then to compile a program that includes all the clauses. A standard that gives guidelines for auditing is the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 19011: 2002 guidelines for quality and/or EMS auditing. When it comes to auditing environmental activities, it is important that the auditors understand the processes and the implications of the processes that they are auditing while still being managerially independent of the process itself. The real purpose of auditing is served when there is a dialogue between the auditor and the people being audited about what is going on rather than a sterile question-and-answer session.

The global perspective

This chapter discusses the environment from a global perspective, which is continually changing. Originally, this was caused by physical factors, such as erosion by rivers leading to mountains and valleys. Different forms of vegetation were caused by different climatic conditions depending on nearness to the equator. Cycles of long-term climate changes led to glacial erosion followed by a return to warmer conditions; deserts were created by the sun and winds. Human beings have caused their own changes, and since the Industrial Revolution, the rate of change has become faster. Using the worlds resources and human-created pollutants that cause damages put the remaining resources at risk. Volatile organic compounds reaching the stratosphere cause holes in the ozone layer and result in an increase of skin cancers. Greenhouse gases—particularly carbon dioxide from burning fuels, car exhausts, and methane generated in rubbish tips—cause the temperature of the Earth to rise, with potentially catastrophic results when ice caps melt and sea levels rise. The environmental management system, International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 14001, is implemented by organizations to sustain civilization and natural resources for future generations.