ISO 14001 Environmental

Overview

ISO 14001 is the internationally recognised standard for environmental management. Applying the 14001:2015 Standard to your management system, and using the principles of Life Cycle Assessment will enable you: 

• Continually seek methods to eliminate and reduce environmental harm, and seek opportunities to improve your performance now and in the future 
• Reassure your workers and interested parties that you are putting environmental health and resource use high on your business agenda, and actively seek to improve what you do
• Provide regulators with assurance that you comply with appropriate legislation and other requirements that relate to environmental health

These activities have significant impact in that they improve customer retention, maximise innovation opportunities, enhance productivity and efficiency, and ensure compliance.

Background

The 14001 standard is the latest in a series of 14001 standards that started life in 1996. Emanating from the growing demand by businesses that needed to demonstrate good environmental performance, the early versions of 14001 provided a platform for organisations to put policies and objectives in place. A subsequent version in 2004 provided a strengthening of requirements around compliance obligations. This current version has been harmonised using the same methodology (Annex SL) which makes it easier to implement the system alongside quality, health and safety and information security.

Four years earlier than the publication of ISO 14001, the British Standards Institute published BS 7750, which laid out core requirements for environmental management. Earlier standards incorporated environmental requirements into an overall programme of safety and sustainability such as the Responsible Care (RC14001) developed for the Chemical Industry. This work dates back to 1984 and underpins a programme that continues great work today.