Background
Organizations
around the world, as well as their stakeholders, are becoming increasingly
aware of the need for environmental management, socially responsible behaviour,
and sustainable growth and development.
Accordingly, as
the proactive management of environment aspects converges with risk management,
corporate governance and sound operational and financial practices and
performance, international standards are becoming increasingly important for
organizations to work towards common and comparable environmental management
practice to support the sustainability of their organizations, products and
services.
Furthermore,
government and regulatory bodies are increasingly invoking to ISO Standards to
provide a framework to ensure alignment of consistency both nationally and
internationally.
ISO 14000 family - Environmental management
The ISO 14000
family of standards provides practical tools for companies and organizations of
all kinds looking to manage their environmental responsibilities.
ISO 14001:2015
and its supporting standards such as ISO 14006:2011 focus on environmental
systems to achieve this. The other standards in the family focus on specific
approaches such as audits, communications, labelling and life cycle analysis,
as well as environmental challenges such as climate change.
The ISO 14000
family of standards are developed by ISO Technical Committee ISO/TC 207 and its
various subcommittees. The following guidelines are useful for the
implementation of an Environmental Management System
ISO 14004:2016
Environmental management systems - General guidelines on implementation
ISO 14005:2010
Environmental management systems- Guidelines for the phased implementation of
an environmental management system, including the use of environmental performance
evaluation
ISO 14006:2011
Environmental management systems- Guidelines for incorporating eco-design
For a full list
of published standards in the series see their standards catalogue.
ISO/TC 207 - Environmental management
ISO 14001:2015 Environmental management systems –
Requirements with guidance for use.
ISO 14001:2015
sets out the criteria for an environmental management system and can be
certified to. It maps out a framework that a company or organization can follow
to set up an effective environmental management system. It can be used by any
organization regardless of its activity or sector.
Using ISO
14001:2015 can provide assurance to company management and employees as well as
external stakeholders that environmental impact is being measured and improved.
There are more
than 300,000 certifications to ISO 14001 in 171 countries around the world.
Introduction to ISO 14001:2015
ISO 14001 - Key benefits
Contact the Unit: Mr S Kanaksabee