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An increasing number of business contracts and clients are requiring firms to demonstrate tangible efforts towards “going green”. This is where environmental accreditation schemes prove useful.
In the hierarchy of environmental management accreditations, ISO 14001 is considered the most effective in representing a company’s sustainable development initiatives. This would enhance the goodwill of the business in the eyes of shareholders and stakeholders.
Sustainable policies, practices, and procedures aimed at minimising negative impacts on the environment and achieving a company’s operational objectives are essential prerequisites for environmental audits carried out by green accreditation bodies.
The ISO 14001 standard pertains to a versatile environmental management system. This includes but is not limited to policies and procedures, as well as the daily activities conducted in a business and their subsequent impact on the environment.
Sectors reusable for this standard will include waste and recycling energy usages alongside pollutive elements like toxic chemicals.
It is important to note that the construction of an ISO 14001 standard is courtesy of the International organisations for standardisation, an independent institution that drafts global benchmarks pertaining to product quality, security info, health, and employee safety during work.
According to the ISO Survey 2020, an excess of 348,000 ISO 14001 certificates were recorded ISO 14001 certifications in existence alongside 568K sites worldwide. ISO 14001 sets out the requirements for an organisation’s Environmental Management System (EMS). Following the framework can set a challenge for your company to operate efficiently and sustainably whilst ensuring that there is a modern, committed to continual improvement management system that reports transparently on the environmental impacts.
Like many other ISO schemes, it isn’t only for big corporations. It can be applied for by companies of all sizes from all sectors.
ISO 14001 is just one of a number of standards within ISO. The scheme is operated independently while being globally recognized and seen as a benchmark in understanding a business’s commitment to the environment.
An organisation's EMS must undergo verification by an external body to achieve ISO 14001 certification.
The steps needed to obtain ISO 14001 certifications are sequential as follows:
Auditing and Gap Analysis - Based on the existing environmental management systems for your business, the first step is to evaluate processes and operations for each identified framework sequentially. Step one may include interrogating various managers and document checking with the aim of understanding processes such as waste disposal, storage of potentially hazardous waste, etc. This step reveals the scope of impact and the gaps that lead to weak areas in processes that need to be resolved.
Implementing an Environmental Management System - This step focuses on equipping a business or company with structures that will consistently track, measure, and control operations regarding their environmental impact.
Assessing and Certifying - Environmental management system certification cannot be done in-house; hence, employing an independent third party that is certified becomes essential. The hired party works through auditing and assessment, and upon successfully meeting defined requirements, the business gets an ISO certification that can now be used as marketing collateral.
ISO certificates expire after three years and require your business to undergo an audit. Surveillance audits must be completed to confirm that the environmental management system continues to comply with ISO requirements. Businesses are permitted to conduct the annual audits themselves.
British Standard Institution (BSI) and other organisations such as Certification Europe and British Assessment Bureau provide certification services that include everything from training to actual certification.
Make sure that the independent assessors you engage with, who have been accredited by UKAS or similar bodies, meet the requirements needed to guarantee ISO compliance.
An appointed independent auditor will carry out an assessment of your environmental management system, and this marks the beginning of the auditing process.
The auditor service will first attempt to outline all the gaps in the system as well as all the procedures that can be altered in order to qualify to achieve an ISO certification to be awarded from the second certification audit.
ISO 14001 is an internationally recognised standard that creates many opportunities, especially for smaller and medium-sized enterprises SMEs.
Supporting ISO data suggests that these standards result in (PDF, 581 KB). Opens in new window)
With BSI noting 53% of SMEs claiming lowered business risks and 52% stating elevated competitiveness due to ISO 14001, it appears there are advantages for small firms in gaining certification (.PDF, 7.6 MB)(Opens in a new window)(.PDF, 7.6 MB)(Opens in a new window).
These are decision changes that SMEs need to deliberate on concerning applying for ISO 14001 certification.
This is more so the case when a business requires major changes, as implementing the system can prove difficult within a business setting.
The complexity of the requirements of the standard means it quite a large number of systems/ employees are needed to properly implement an environmental management system.
Depending on the size and structure of your company, expenses may differ.