QMS & EMS London

Whether the new international standard for environmental management systems, ISO 14001:2015, strengthens the links between the EMS and organisational strategy, more effectively engages leaders and ensures environmental aspects are related to business risks and opportunities will largely depend on the quality of the internal and external audits.

When ISO started revising 14001, the standard for environmental management systems (EMS), it emphasised the importance of measuring, monitoring and managing performance. Under the clauses in the draft standard covering objectives and targets and in the section on performance evaluation, organisations are required to adopt performance indicators. The draft defines an indicator as a measurable representation of the condition or status of operations, management or conditions. This definition originates from ISO 14031, which provides guidance on environmental performance evaluation (EPE).

The country ballot on the DIS in November 2014 showed 92% of ISO member bodies supported moving to the next stage. The step was for the working group to consider comments on the DIS made during the consultation period, which ended in October. Key issues covered in the six-day meeting in Tokyo were the clause relating to ‘risks associated with threats and opportunities’ and the term ‘compliance obligations’.

The clause in 14001: 2015 to understand the organisation and its context will require high-level understanding of the important internal and external issues that can affect an organisation’s environmental management system (EMS). A workshop approach to increase cross-functional understanding and input from across the organisation would be one way to ensure this requirement helps improve the effectiveness of the EMS. But an EMS tends to be the exclusive domain of only one or two people, disconnecting it from the rest of the business and, with the exception of environmental issues, what is happening in the outside world. As a result, the system often lacks exposure to “big picture issues”, which have the potential to seriously affect, negatively or positively, the ongoing success of the EMS and the business itself. Examples of such issues include a possible change in government, a changing workforce or future restrictions on accessing critical substances. Such issues coul...

The third part in our occasional series ( Part I , Part II ) on environment and sustainability standards and guidance focuses on auditing and reporting. These include ISO standards on the quantification and reporting of greenhouse-gas emissions, which are being revised, the G4 guidelines on sustainability reporting from the Global Reporting Initiative, the AA1000 series of sustainability assurance standards, and the ISO 19011 guidelines on auditing management systems.

International Organization for Standardization The revised standard aims to align environmental management systems more closely with an organisation’s strategy. It places greater emphasis on reducing environmental impacts across the whole life-cycle of products and services including supply chains and in the development and use of products and services.  The new standard will also require organisations to consider impacts from a changing environment and provide a framework for organisations to manage the risks and maximise opportunities from trends such as scarcity of natural resources and climate change. 

Part one of our series (September 2014) looking at environment and sustainability standards focused on some of those associated with ISO 14001, the global benchmark for environment management systems. Part three of the series will focus on standards for auditing management systems and for reporting.

Standards tend to improve organisational performance. The results of an ISO survey published earlier this year reveal the benefits of the 14001 standard for environment management systems (EMS). It found that organisations implementing 14001 realised significant value for their businesses. It also helped them to meet their legal obligations, improve environmental performance, and enhance management commitment and employee engagement on the environment. There were almost 286,000 14001 certifications in 2012, and the popularity of the global EMS standard has soared since it was introduced in 1996.