QCS International has assisted many organisations gain ISO 14001, over the years and there is one tip we always give to anyone…know your aspects. The standard for environmental management requires organisations to establish and understand just what the environmental aspects of its activities might be and how they might impact the environment. In terms of risk management, environmental aspects and impacts do represent risk, we need to identify controls and where we cannot mitigate how we can influence associated environmental impacts. To take things a bit further, ISO14001 suggests that significant environmental impacts can reflect risk and opportunity – adverse impacts being threats and beneficial impacts being opportunity. Don’t be afraid to record the beneficial impacts of what you do, focus on the positives as well as the negatives.
It may sound simple but we see consultants and management system experts alike forgetting this part and jumping head long into policy, objectives and system manuals.
How can you write an environmental policy, engage with leaders and gain senior management commitment, set objectives, identify applicable legislation and yes write an environmental management system manual without knowing how you interact with the environment?
Don’t forget that an ISO 14001 system is about systematically managing the environmental aspects of your organisation to improve environmental performance – it is not just about having a system that’s ‘audit ready’ awaiting your next certification body assessment.
