ISO 14001
Environmental Management Systems
It is becoming more and more important for companies to demonstrate that they are thinking about how their business affects the world around them.
No business can ignore the consequences of their production processes now. These days you are increasingly likely to be asked to provide your environmental impact strategy. Whether local or global, you need to identify how you can quantify, control and reduce any damaging or negative outcomes your processes are creating.
In fact, with laws to protect the natural world coming into force regularly, implementing this Standard may protect you from any legal liability.
The simplest way to document and prove your commitment to improving how you interact with your broader surroundings is to certify to ISO 14001.
The Benefits to Your Business
The benefits of showing conformance to the ISO 14001 standard are numerous:
- Cost savings in waste, recycling and consumption
- Advantage over competitors when tendering for business
- Management of environmental risks
- Demonstrates your commitment to improving the environment
- Shows you are a responsible future focused organisation
- Can increase employee engagement in the knowledge that they are working in an environmentally friendly organisation
This standard helps an organisation to understand and manage its environmental impacts, and it starts by getting to the nuts and bolts of your processes. You’ll look into each aspect of how you operate and analyse what negative effects arise. You can identify, and quantify, the outcomes, and put in place solutions to mitigate the potential harm.
Improving How Your Company is Perceived
With the internet at our fingertips, it’s easy to dive deep into an organisation’s structure, processes and attitudes. When anyone looking into you finds your ‘green’ credentials are backed up by an International ISO Standard, that will satisfy their need to know about your principles.
The credibility and reputation of your company can hinge on your approach to the natural world. ISO 14001 proves you take it seriously.
What Management Principles are the Foundation of ISO 14001?
The primary principle behind ISO 14001 is simple – protecting the environment. Both legislation and public opinion are creating increasing pressure for business to eliminate the negative consequences of business on the world around them.
Best practice now demands that every business owner consider their company’s contribution to pollution, climate change and biodiversity. Sustainability is the watchword, and business decisions – who to buy from, who to supply – are often influenced by whether a business can prove their ‘green’ credentials. ISO 14001 provides evidence of your commitment to taking care of how your business affects the environment.
The Principles are:
Environmental Aspects and Impacts
The Standard will require you to assess what aspects (an element of your business that interacts with the environment) and impacts (the effect the aspect has). These will cover areas such as your energy use, vehicles, packaging, smell, and noise.
Legal Compliance
It is key to your compliance to identify legislation, regulations and requirements that apply. Brookfields can help you identify the legislation that’s applicable to your organisation, and measure how effectively you are meeting these obligations.
Integrating ISO 14001 With Your Other Standards
ISO 14001 follows the same High-Level Structure as the ISO 9001 and ISO 45001 standards. Brookfields Consultancy can assist you in combining the Standards to achieve an Integrated Management System (IMS). Alternatively, you might just want a standalone environmental management system.
Continual Improvement
Without doubt, environmental issues will increase in importance in the coming years. Regulations will be tightened, more legislation will arise. It’s crucial that your management system include processes for continual assessment and improvement.
Life-Cycle Thinking
Part of the exercise will involve you considering the full life-cycle of your products and services. From manufacture, through packaging, delivery, life use, and disposal, what impacts are there, and what can you do to minimise them?
Streamlining and Cost Savings
Your operational efficiency will be made excellent as you streamline your processes. This in turn will lead to cost savings, improved profits, fresh clients and a competitive advantage.
Contributing to Sustainability Goals
ISO 14001 adds to many aspects of the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals. These goals aim to improve quality of life, promote peace and protect the environment. ISO 14001 contributes to goals one through 15.
