ISO 14001 Consultants

Environmental Management Systems and ISO 14001 Certification

Brain Mead Business Improvement Services are ISO 14001 consultants with many years of experience promoting business excellence, taking a practical approach to implementing quality and environmental systems.

ISO 14001 is a framework for an Environmental Management System that provides the means of ensuring that a business or organisation considers all aspects of its operation that either actually or potentially has some impact on the environment. The impact may often be some form of resulting pollution but can also relate to consumption of non-renewable resources and waste generation and disposal..

ISO 14001 is also being used increasingly as a marketing tool to advertise an organisation's environmental credentials to any potential customers as well as other interested parties.

The following briefly describes the main areas of consideration:

Policy and Objectives
ISO 14001 requires a clear Environmental Policy statement and the drafting of some Improvement Objectives once the "Aspects" and "Impacts" have been identified. The Objectives may for example relate to a reduction in an emission to a specified level, to reduce electricity consumption or to recycle more. The policy statement also must be made publicly available.

Defining the Environmental Aspects
It is necessary to identify the organisation's "Environmental Aspects"; these being the various ways that the organisation interacts with or impacts on the environment. The Aspects may be very obvious in say a chemical or steel works, but can equally be applied to relatively clean service sector industries. In a simple office based business the environmental aspects would usually include the use of electricity, water resources and the means of general office waste disposal. Aspects and their respective Impacts will need to be prioritised or weighted in order that more significant issues are dealt with first.

Legal Requirements
There is a very large amount of legislation relating to the environment and ISO 14001 requires its adherents to identify and keep abreast of all relevant legislation. This is likely to be the most difficult part of maintaining an EMS, but there are various on-line resources that can be used.

"the assessor was particularly complimentary about the environmental documentation & follow up."
Waverley Contracting & Supply

Objectives, Targets and Programmes
Based on the organisation's Aspects and Impacts it is necessary to determine any improvements that can be made whilst taking account of the importance or criticality of the particular Aspect. As with ISO 9001 the intention here is to put in place the means for continuous improvement.

Emergency Preparedness & Response
ISO 14001 also requires the organisation to prepare for any potential emergency situations where these may have an adverse impact on the environment. In an oil refinery for example a plan would exist to cater for major oil spillages in order to prevent widespread contamination, however all organisations are expected to put in place the necessary preventive actions depending on the emergency scenario envisaged, though in a simple office based environment this requirement will be fairly minimal - e.g. fire prevention.

If you would like more specific information about how ISO 14001 can be implemented in your organisation, just email or call for an informal discussion, or even just for some advice.

Further information from the ISO accrediting body