What is an EMS?
An EMS is a structured management plan designed to identify and manage a company’s environmental performance. The design and implementation of an EMS will often lead an organization to improved process management, cost savings, reduced environmental liability and an improved public image. Many organizations already have an EMS that can be fine tuned and structured for registration to the ISO 14001 standard.
What is ISO 14001?
ISO, the International Organization for Standardization, is an international federation of national standards bodies. ISO is based in Geneva, Switzerland and has written many international standards; the most commonly recognized is a series of production quality standards labeled ISO 9000. More information regarding ISO can be found at www.ISO.ch.
ISO 14001 is a voluntary standard for Environmental Management Systems. ISO 14001 provides a framework for the development and implementation of an EMS including:
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Establishment of an environmental policy expressing an organization’s commitment to reduce pollution, provide continual improvement, and maintain regulatory compliance |
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Identifying and addressing an organization’s environmental aspects and the associated impacts of products, services and activities |
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Identifying an organization’s legal and regulatory requirements |
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Planning measurable environmental objectives and establishing environmental management plans to accomplish these objectives |
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Establishing a process for reaching environmental objectives including employee training, work instructions and the metrics to be used to measure progress |
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Utilizing proper document control |
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Assuring appropriate emergency preparedness and response |
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Creating and documenting a process for providing continual improvement to an organization’s EMS including regular internal audits, corrective and preventative action and top-level management review |
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Yearly, third party audits |
The on-going process of an EMS structured to meet the ISO 14001 standard can be summed up by the Plan-Do-Check-Act (PDCA) management model as evidenced in the following flow chart:
