Iso 14000 free essay sample

The British Standards Institution has BS 7750, the Canadian Standards Association has environmental management, auditing, eco-labeling and other standards, the European Union has all of these plus the eco-management and audit regulations, and many other countries (e. g. USA, Germany and Japan) have introduced eco-labeling programs. After the rapid acceptance of ISO 9000, and the increase of environmental standards around the world, ISO assessed the need for international environmental management standards. They formed the Strategic Advisory Group on the Environment (SAGE) in 1991, to consider whether such standards could serve to: | Promote a common approach to environmental management similar to quality management; | | Enhance organizations ability to attain and measure improvements in environmental performance; and | | Facilitate trade and remove trade barriers. | In 1992, SAGEs recommendations created a new committee, TC 207, for international environmental management standards. The committee, and its sub-committees include representatives from industry, standards organizations, government and environmental organizations from many countries. The new series of ISO14000 standards are designed to cover: | environmental management systems | | environmental auditing | | environmental performance evaluation | | environmental labeling | | life-cycle assessment | | environmental aspects in product standards | ISO 14001 standard The standard is not an environmental management system as such and therefore does not dictate absolute environmental performance requirements (National Academy Press 1999), but serves instead as a framework to assist organizations in developing their own environmental management system (RMIT University). We will write a custom essay sample on Iso 14000 or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page ISO 14001 can be integrated with other management functions and assists companies in meeting their environmental and economic goals. ISO 14001, as with other ISO 14000 standards, is voluntary (IISD 2010), with its main aim to assist companies in continually improving their environmental performance, whilst complying with any applicable legislation. Organizations are responsible for setting their own targets and performance measures, with the standard serving to assist them in meeting objectives and goals and the subsequent monitoring and measurement of these (IISD 2010). This means that two organizations that have completely different measures and standards of environmental performance, can both comply with ISO 14001 requirements (Federal Facilities Council Report 1999). The fundamental principle and overall goal of the ISO 14001 standard, is the concept of continual improvement (Federal Facilities Council Report 1999). ISO 14001 is based on the Plan-Do-Check-Act methodology (Standards Australia/Standards New Zealand 2004) which has been expanded to include 17 elements, grouped into five phases that relate to Plan-Do-Check-Act; Environmental Policy, Planning, Implementation Operation, Checking Corrective Action and lastly Management Review (Martin 1998). Plan – establish objectives and processes required Do – implement the processes Check – measure and monitor the processes and report results Act – take action to improve performance of EMS based on results Continual Improvement Process Benefits ISO 14001 was developed primarily to assist companies in reducing their environmental impact, but in addition to an improvement in environmental standards and performance, organizations can reap a number of economic benefits including higher conformance with legislative and regulatory requirements (Sheldon 1997) by utilizing the ISO standard. Firstly by minimizing the risk of regulatory and environmental liability fines and improving an organization’s efficiency (Delmas 2001), leading to a reduction in waste and consumption of resources, operating costs can be reduced (ISO14001. com. au 2010). Secondly, as an internationally recognized standard, businesses operating in multiple locations across the globe can register as ISO 14001 compliant, eliminating the need for multiple registrations or certifications (Hutchens 2010). Thirdly there has been a push in the last decade by consumers, for companies to adopt stricter environmental regulations, making the incorporation of ISO 14001 a greater necessity for the long term viability of businesses (Delmas Montiel 2009) and providing them with a competitive advantage against companies that do not adopt the standard (Potoki Prakash, 2005). This in turn can have a positive impact on a company’s asset value (Van der Deldt, 1997) and can lead to improved public perceptions of the business, placing them in a better position to operate in the international marketplace (Potoki Prakash 1997; Sheldon 1997). Finally it can serve to reduce trade barriers between registered businesses (Van der Deldt, 1997). Organizations can significantly benefit from EMS implementation through the identification of large cleaner production projects (e. g. which can drastically cut electricity costs in manufacturing industries). ISO 14001 can be a very effective tool to identify these cost savings opportunities for some organizations. Some other organizations can falter in its planning, lack of senior management commitment and poor understanding of how it should be implemented and find themselves managing an ineffective EMS. Improvements that organizations can make include adequately planning their structure and allocating adequate resources, providing training, creating forums for discussion, setting measurable targets and working according to the philosophy of continuous improvement (Burden, 2010). Conformity Assessment ISO 14001 can be used in whole or in part to help an organization, for profit or not-for-profit, better manage its relationship with the environment.