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| Primary purpose Summary Potential benefits Who can use the tool? What resources are needed? Development, ownership and support Social enterprise examples Further sources of information Footnotes ISO 14000 Series The ISO 14000 Series gives the requirements for an environmental management system and is one of more than 15,000 voluntary International Standards published by the International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO). It is primarily concerned with "environmental management". For the ISO, this means what the organization does to minimize harmful effects on the environment of its activities. It is not a product standard and does not give requirements for specific products or services; rather, it provides a set of generic requirements for what the organisation must do to manage the processes influencing the impact of the organisation's activities on the environment. Implementation involves making production procedures explicit (‘say what you do’), documenting them, ensuring they are followed and checking they are effective. A quality management system can be audited by an independent certification body as conforming to the Standard (leading to an ISO 9001:2000 certificate), although this is not compulsory. The intention of ISO 14001:2004 is to provide a framework for an overall, strategic approach to an organisation's environmental policy, plans and actions. The ISO 14000 family consists of standards relating to environmental management systems (EMS) and others which are tools to help the organisation realize its environmental policy, objectives and targets, and classify them by application:
ISO 14001:2004 ensures that organisations are aware of environmental aspects of their work in order to minimise negative impacts and improve environmental performance. ISO suggests that the Standard can provide significant tangible benefits, including:
The Standard can be implemented by a wide variety of organisations, whatever their current level of environmental maturity. However, a commitment to compliance with applicable environmental legislation and regulations is required, along with a commitment to continuous improvement. The standard has the aim of making it easier for small and medium-sized enterprises (SME's) to understand, set up and benefit from such systems.
Potential limitations
ISO 14000 standards are implemented by thousands of organisations internationally. It is most widely used in the private and public sectors and by large organisations, but it can also be used by small and medium sized organistions and the social enterprise sector. Leadership Senior individuals in an organisation will need to be fully committed. Proficiencies or skills Training in understanding the Standards may be required. Actions taken to meet implementation of the requirements are left to the organisation itself. The organisation then needs to address the issues to comply with the Standards. Staff time Whilst this may vary depending upon the size of the organisation and the level of change that has to be implemented, estimates of between 6 and18 months to implement have been made. Courses, support, and information The ISO website contains information on all aspects of the ISO 14000 family as well as a “Magical Demystifying Tour of ISO 9000 and ISO 14000” and the ISO magazine, ISO Management Systems, and other publications.2 Development, ownership and support The ISO is responsible for developing, maintaining and publishing the ISO 14000 family. The ISO is a non-governmental organisation (NGO) network of the national standards institutes of 150 countries with one member per country, with a Central Secretariat in Geneva, Switzerland, that co-ordinate the system. It was created in 1947 and has a strategic partnership with the World Trade Organisation (WTO). The ISO does not itself audit or assess the management systems of organisations. Social enterprises that have used ISO 14000
There are many companies throughout the world that have implemented ISO standards. Examples can be found on the ISO website. 1 The British Standards Institution website also features training information in the UK: British Standards Institution, Tel: 020 8996 9001 www.bsi-global.com 2 When ISO began to develop a set of generic quality management standards for worldwide application, it drew upon existing national standards and military quality assurance specifications. The new ISO 14001 standard was officially published on November 15, 2004. It cancels and replaces the old ISO 14001 1996 standard. |
