27-08-2012, 03:57 PM
ISO 14000
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In brief
ISO 14000 refers to a family of voluntary standards developed by the International
Organization for Standardization (ISO). The standards provide a framework for a
strategic approach to an organization’s environmental policies, plans and actions. Using
the framework, a company develops an environmental management system or EMS. The
EMS is evaluated by a “certification body” to determine whether the EMS conforms to
ISO 14000.If so, the organization is said to have “ISO 14000 certification.”
Background
The ISO has been developing voluntary technical standards over almost all sectors of
business, industry and technology since 1947. The vast majority of ISO standards are
highly specific to a particular product, material or process. For instance, ISO standards
insure that nuts and bolts fit together properly.
ISO 14000 is quite different from most other ISO standards. It is known as a generic
management system standard. Generic means that the same standard can be applied to
any organization, large or small, whatever its product or service, in any sector of activity,
and whether it is a business enterprise, public administration or government department.
Management system refers to what the organization does to manage its processes or
activities. ISO 14000 is concerned with the way an organization goes about its work, and
not directly with the results of this work. The focus is on processes, not products.
ISO 14000 grew out of ISO’s commitment to support sustainable development as
discussed at the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development in Rio de
Janeiro in 1992. Conversations among 20 countries, 11 international organizations, and
more than 100 environmental experts actually began in 1991 to define the basic
requirements of a new approach to environment-related standards. The first standards—
ISO 14004 and ISO 14001—were published in September and October 1996,
respectively. The “ISO 14000 family” consists of standards and guidelines relating to
environmental management systems and supporting standards on terminology and
specific tools, such as auditing. Essentially, the standards are concerned with what an
organization does to minimize harmful effects on the environment caused by its
activities: either during production or disposal, either by pollution or by depleting natural
resources.
What is an ISO 14000 EMS?
An environmental management system (EMS) based on the ISO 14000 standards is a
management tool enabling an organization of any size or type to control the impact of its
activities, products or services on the environment. It defines a structured approach for 1)
setting environmental objectives and targets, 2) achieving these goals, and 3)
demonstrating that they have been achieved. Because ISO 14000 does not set levels of
environmental performance, the standards can be implemented by a wide variety of
organizations, whatever their current level of environmental maturity. However, acommitment to compliance with applicable environmental legislation and regulations is
required, along with a commitment to continuous improvement.