LEGISLATION
ISO 14001 CHANGES – a month on, how is it going?
On 15 September 2015, the new
ISO 14001:2015 Environment Management Standard was published
L
ong awaited and overdue for a revamp, the new Standard has seen many changes to make environment management a more
company-wide approach than ever before.
The 2015 Standard still follows the risk-based approach of a Plan-Do-Check-Act system as most other ISO Standards. It now also incorporates a new 10-point framework called Annexe SL. The Annexe SL framework is a generic framework to go across all Management Systems as they are updated (such as the recently revamped ISO 9001 Standard). This will ensure there is consistent terminology and clause numbering across all Standards.
By ensuring all management systems are consistent in their framework, this will make life much easier if you are certified to more than one management standard. For example, if you have ISO 9001, 14001 and 50001 you won’t need a complex cross-referencing chart to show where you’ve put each element!
There will also be commonly used terms and definitions to make it easier to implement and maintain multiple standards - meaning less red tape which allows you to get on with the business of your business.
What is the difference?
The framework may be better organised, but what about the changes to the actual standard?
For a start, the new 14001 is very clear your environmental management should be something which is at the heart of your organisation and leadership. From now on, it won’t be enough to have a small CSR team looking after your 14001 system – you
will need to ‘walk the talk’ and have the whole organisation subscribing. This means two things:
•
First, your senior management will need to be intrinsically involved. They need to be at the forefront in setting the organisation’s environmental objectives and targets, and ensuring there are responsible people who can carry this out. It won’t be enough for the senior management team to hear back once a year in a review – they should have input all along the way.
•
Second, more responsibilities for the environment management system need to be spread throughout the organisation. This is not a dichotomy! Again, what the new Standard is trying to achieve is ensuring everyone is ‘walking the talk’, and involved. It’s not just a few people telling the majority what to do; it is a collaborative effort to ensure the environmental targets, objectives and systems are understood throughout the entire organisation.
The Big Picture
Many articles and working groups have pointed out other advantages of the revised 14001, including helping businesses to integrate environmental management into the strategies of the organisation, and ensuring the leadership team motivates all employees towards the goals and objectives of the organisation.
Environmental management needs to be part of the core business processes and strategies, including making sure the whole life cycle of your product or service takes into account your environmental management. This doesn’t mean you have to do a full life cycle assessment of each
Liz Ainslie MsC AIEMA is an
Environmental Consultant with Hosking Associates and regular contributor
and every product or service in your company! Rather, this will require organisations to think about potential environmental changes on their business, rather than just the impacts they will have on the outside world.
Communication will be key, even more so than in the ISO 14001:2004 Standard. External communication won’t just be about ensuring your environment policy is on your website – you will need to be more transparent in your external communications and include data on how you are faring within your system. There is also more emphasis on improving the environmental performance across your whole value chain, and how you communicate your requirements to them. Giving evidence of your communication during audits will be key – via meeting minutes, email updates, contractor controls, or any way you communicate to staff or suppliers.
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PSS MAGAZINE • NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2015
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