The 2015 revisions to ISO 14001 International Standard, Environmental management systems – Requirements with guidance for use, become mandatory in September 2018. An organization that has obtained certification to the standard for its environmental management system (EMS) should update the EMS as needed to conform to the revised requirements at least six months to one year in advance of the effective date. So, if you’ve been putting off review of your EMS and its conformance to the “new” standard, the time to get to that is… now!
ISO 14001:2015 introduced some new concepts and modified other elements of the EMS standard, while restructuring the standard according to a High Level Structure meant to establish consistency across management system standards, like the ISO 9001 quality standard and the pending ISO 45001 standard for health and safety. Key new or expanded concepts include Context of the Organization; Needs and Expectations of Interested Parties; Risks and Opportunities (beyond the familiar environmental aspects and their impacts and compliance obligations); and Leadership – accountability of Top Management for implementation of the EMS, integrating environmental management with the organization’s strategic direction and business processes. Under the revised standard, the EMS must consider the entire life cycle of your products and activities. And the emphasis on improving the EMS to improve environmental performance is made clear.
Are you ready for ISO 14001:2015? Allow us a shameless plug here, to note that we can help your organization manage the transition, as we’ve done and are doing for others, in a variety of ways:
- Review (“gap analysis”) of your existing system to identify areas of necessary improvement to meet the revised standard
- Training and information for management and your EMS implementation team to familiarize you with the requirements
- Training for internal EMS auditors
- Lead for internal audits as you progress toward implementation of a ISO 14001:2015 compliant EMS and as your third-party surveillance audit draws near
- Assistance with development of your EMS and associated documentation
Of course, we’re also happy to assist you with any specific questions about the ISO 14001:2015 standard and Environmental Management Systems that you may have. Please feel free to contact T. Cozzie Consulting for a timely reply (no obligation!).