ISO 14001 Environmental Management System (EMS) Standard

ISO 14001 is an internationally recognised standard that helps organisations to realise the benefits of making environmental management a fundamental operating principle.

Increasingly, customers and other stakeholders expect more action and greater transparency from organisations on all matters relating to the environment. By providing a framework for implementing an Environmental Management System (EMS), ISO 14001 helps organisations to improve environmental performance and provide customers and stakeholders the assurance they are looking for.

ISO 14001 was first published in 1996, by the International Organization for Standards (ISO). Before its introduction, many organisations had developed their own, in-house EMS; however, without a uniform approach or independent verification, they didn’t carry much weight outside the organisation.

ISO 14001 provides a common set of principles for all organisations to adhere to, while independent, third-party auditing provides credibility.

The standard can be flexed to make it suitable for organisations of all sizes and industries, whether private, not-for-profit or governmental. To date, more than 300,000 ISO 14001 certificates have been issued by accredited certification bodies.¹

ISO 14001 helps organisations to consider the entirety of their environmental impact and identify risks and opportunities. It can be an effective way to embed aspects of environmental management into core business processes, delivering efficiencies. With its requirement for senior management involvement, ISO 14001 can also help improve the focus on regulatory compliance and, consequently, reduce risk. Organisations who are certified claim benefits that include:

• Reduction of waste
• Regulatory compliance
• Better risk management
• Improved brand reputation
• A more competitive edge
• Reduced environmental impact.

Certification to ISO 14001 is becoming more commonplace and in certain industry segments, such as the automotive supply chain, it is often a necessity.

The most recent version of ISO 14001 was published in 2015 (known as ISO 14001:2015). It comprises ten high-level clauses (sections) that are common across all ISO standards. This overarching structure makes it easier for organisations to integrate management systems, create efficiencies, and gain support from senior leadership.

Organisations must demonstrate that they have met all the requirements of each clause before they can be awarded certification. Far from prescriptive, however, the standard allows organisations to choose their own preferred method of demonstrating how each requirement has been met. This could be from diverse sources including information gathered during internal audits, from training records or from documents that confirm regulatory compliance for example.

Establishing an organisation’s context is an essential aspect of the ISO framework. This includes identifying internal and external stakeholders, such as the supply chain, customers, communities, and their role in relation to the EMS. For example, what are the environmental practises of your suppliers and how do you manage any associated risks? What improvements could be made?

The engagement of senior leadership is also a central part of the journey to certification. Their support is necessary to ensuring that those with responsibility for EMS within the organisation have the resources to implement and maintain it effectively.

The journey to certification begins with buying a copy of the standard, which is available directly from ISO or from other organisations. There are then five steps to follow:

1. Read and understand the standard. It can be useful at this stage to attend a training course on implementing the standard to help solidify understanding and identify how you will implement it in your organisation.
2. Take action. This is where you put the framework in place and implement what’s needed, including making sure that everyone involved knows what to do. It’s a good idea to begin with a gap assessment to determine where the organisation is currently and where you might need to do some work to meet the standard.
3. Choose a certification body. When you’re confident that you meet the requirements of ISO 14001, select an accredited independent third-party certification body, such as NSF, to audit your organisation against the standard. The duration of the audit will depend on factors such as the number of employees. You’ll need to ensure that all those responsible for the EMS are prepared and available for the audit visit.
4. Receive audit recommendation. If all the requirements of the standard are met your auditor will recommend you for certification. If any minor nonconformities are identified, you will have a specified period in which to address these and submit to the certification body evidence of the work done to rectify these. Major nonconformities will likely require another audit to be scheduled.
5. Certification is granted. When all requirements are met, you will be granted certification. ISO 14001 certification is a significant achievement that should be celebrated through PR, social media, on your website, and any other channels through which you communicate with stakeholders.

Receiving your certificate is not the end. In fact, it’s the start of continually improving your organisation’s environmental management performance. Your certification cycle will last for three years. In the first and second year you will be audited to ensure compliance is maintained. And in the final year of each cycle, a recertification audit will take place.

Upon successful completion of this, certification will be granted for another three years with the usual yearly audit cycle being maintained. (Should factors such as the scope of your certification or the size of your location change, then your audit cycle might need to be changed.)

NSF is an ANSI National Accreditation Board (ANAB) accredited third-party certification body. We issue thousands of certificates each year. Our auditors have years of direct experience with environmental management systems and can demonstrate deep, relevant industry knowledge. We also work hard to deliver excellent customer service and take pride in the high scores we receive in our client satisfaction survey.

Today, most commonly adopted management system standards such as ISO 14001, ISO 9001 or ISO 45001 follow the same structure. It is known as Annex SL. The benefit of this consistent structure is that management systems can be more closely aligned and integrated. This can help deliver efficiencies in an organisation when integrating two or more management system standards. We are well-placed to support organisations in doing this. Contact us for more information about the benefits of an integrated management system.

Our engaging and interactive training sessions delve into core principles of the ISO 14001:2015 environmental management system, providing learners with an understanding of its requirements and application in real-world scenarios.

Learn more about our ISO 14001:2015 Internal Auditor training course that’s delivered virtually for your convenience and can be booked online. If you are looking to train a team or have more than five delegates, contact our team about private training.