Here you can find news and information on the latest and previous updates to ISO 14001.
July 2019
Three years on since the EU referendum and we are still attempting to negotiate “deal” or “no deal”. This leads to much uncertainty, not least with regard to environmental legislation and regulations; we don’t seem to have a clear path ahead.
What do we know?
If the UK remains in the European Economic Area (such as Norway or Switzerland) the UK must follow all EU rules whilst having no input whatsoever on any amendments to existing or new future environmental laws. We would be a law taker, not a informer or shaper.
On departure from the EU The UK can preserve all the existing environmental laws which would:
Help trade with EU countries
Keep laws on waste/management and gas emissions (very relevant to UK industry)
Convert new/updated EU laws into UK law – but the big problem here is they would be regulated by the EU and not UK Bodies. It is unlikely that the EU would recognise the regulator from a non-EU member.
UK may drop EU regulations and make its own new laws – but International Treaties may then have to be included. It could also make the development of any future trade agreements more difficult.
It should also be noted that some environmental laws don’t come from Brussels and won’t be affected by the Brexit outcome. Furthermore, all the above are further complicated given that environmental regulation has been devolved to the Scottish Parliament (the differences between England and Scotland could increase).
As a business leader what can you do?
If you are Certified to ISO 14001 nothing changes whilst we are in the negotiating stages.
If (or when) we leave you will be required to review your full Environmental Management System and your Operational Procedures where change is identified. This will be particularly relevant if environmental regulations change.
It is imperative that your Environmental Management System Manager considers laws, regulations and directives that affect your own business sector and consider how these obligations will now be covered by UK/Scots law. Note that you need to continually demonstrate compliance for certification to the standard.
QCS will be ensuring our client base is ahead of the field regarding environmental management and Brexit. WE have a legal compliance service – https://qcsl.co.uk/consultancy/legislation-compliance/
December 2013
The Institute of Environmental Management and Assessment continue to act as the UK representative body on the committee finalising the new version of ISO14001. During November and December this year the latest draft update (Committee Draft 2) is being discussed at workshops and events around the UK. Comments from these shall form part of the input to the agreed standard next year.
Key changes from ISO14001:2004 include:
Greater emphasis on the organisation’s strategic context and how its activities link to other interested parties (such as suppliers and customers)
Greater focus on environmental performance improvements – not just to activities within the organisation but also relating to the performance of the wider value chain
How the organisation is adapting to wider environmental challenges, such as climate change
More emphasis on senior management integrating environmental management with core business processes and strategy
More clarity on communications (including reporting performance), data collection and ensuring data used to demonstrate environmental performance is robust
The biggest impact, for businesses with ISO14001 certification already in place, will be significant updates and improvements in the programmes they have in place to improve environmental performance against their significant environmental aspects.
New emphasis on the principles of sustainable development – linking together the economic and social elements of an organisation’s activities with its environmental performance
Statement that the standard can apply to public, private and not-for-profit organisations
For legal and other requirements the term compliance obligations has been introduced
New requirements on communicating environmental performance to external bodies (but the organisation can decide what the relevant elements of their system are for reporting)
Concept of mitigation (in addition to correction/corrective actions) to deal with an environmental incident
The new standard will also be the first to be issued in the new common framework, which continues to follow the plan-do-check-act model but will have features consistent across all management system types.
QCS shall be offering seminars and training to ensure organisations are prepared for the changes and to ensure that these changes are reflected in their audit programmes. Details of these training services shall be available on our website.
June 2013
The International Standards Organisation has began a programme of updating all management systems standards so that all follow a common layout and sequence of clauses. This will mean that all shall have identical core elements with adjustments and additions depending upon the subject matter that is being considered.
The first to be published and implemented will be the international standard for environmental management, ISO14001, which is currently due to be in place for early 2015. As with many of these programmes it is subject to numerous consultations and updates, which is now being completed. Given the complexity of gaining agreement across many countries this process takes time and may ultimately lead to a delay.
The organisation leading consultation in the UK is the Institute of Environmental Management and Assessment (IEMA). IEMA will be reporting on their findings after a consultation on the latest draft document to an international committee over the next few months. Whilst this process is ongoing we cannot be sure of all of the final requirements but there are some elements that we know will be in the new standard.
In common with all new standards is a common framework that includes the following elements:
- Defining the scope
- Roles and responsibilities – now described as leadership and with greater emphasis on authority
- Policies
- Allocating resources to the management system
- Document and record control
- Operational controls
- Performance evaluation (a mixture of setting objectives and monitoring and measuring)
- Internal audit
- Non-conformity and corrective actions
- Management review
These initial elements will be common to all management systems with 14001 requiring them to address environmental aspects and achieving environmental objectives
The elements that will be unique to the 14001 standard are not yet finalised but the following are likely to be included:
- Specific requirements on setting key performance indicators – which should reflect environmental aspects and contribute towards demonstration on the delivery of objectives
- A specific clause on preventing pollution – more than a commitment within a policy. This is likely to include a requirement to describe the operational controls in place to ensure this is achieved
- Value chain – introducing the concept of life-cycle analysis to establish environmental aspects throughout the lifetime of a product ,not just those associated with manufacture
- Leadership – a specific requirement that all strategic planning within an organisation includes consideration to environmental performance
- A new definition for other requirements – which includes legal requirements and voluntary obligations
- A whole clause on environmental improvement programmes – not just a short comment as in the current standard
One of the more problematic new areas is the likelihood of making reporting on environmental performance compulsory. Currently an organisation can decide if it wishes to share information on performance with external stakeholders. The new standard may require organisations to provide ‘truthful, accurate and transparent’ information on environmental performance. This is still being discussed and the final wording on this may change given that this is likely to generate most difficulty amongst companies wishing to meet the new standard requirements. This might be of particular concern to smaller companies seeking 14001 certification.
Within other clauses are being re-written and updated there are no significant problems for organisations with a mature EMS already in place. Elements such as legal compliance evaluation, internal audit, emergency preparedness and response, management review and document/record control may appear different but should not generate much difficulty in update.
The new common framework continues to follow the plan-do-check-act system but the clauses are not always sequenced to make this clear – which is a change from how the current standard is designed. However, as other standards are changed to this common system it will certainly be easier to integrate management systems – which is one of the main aims of this update.
March 2012
The revised ISO 14001 will be one of the first international management systems standards to adopt a new format, confirms International Standards Organisation (ISO)
Related articles:
- ISO 14001 – 15 years of progress?
- New generic structure for ISO 14001 likely
- ISO votes for 14001 revision
At the first meeting of the working group established to revise ISO 14001, the environment management systems standard, it was agreed to structure the new version around ISO’s recently launched high-level structure for management system standards. The new structure will mean a significant change to the existing standard which was published in 2004.
Martin Baxter, IEMA’s executive director of policy and the UK’s nationally appointed expert to the working group, said: “The new structure includes some important new elements which will help to elevate the status and importance of environment management in organisations to a more strategic level, whilst retaining the operational strength that ISO 14001 has typically been built around.”
Following a series of workshops with practitioners across the UK and Ireland, IEMA confirms that there is strong support for the new structure.
“It will help organisations to better integrate environment management into the core parts of their business, rather than being treated as an isolated bolt-on,” said Baxter.
“With are more than 250,000 users in 155 countries worldwide, and with the new version of ISO 14001 likely to be in use well into the mid-2020s, it is essential to develop a standard that enables organisations to meet future environmental challenges, rather than simply trying to solve existing problems.”
The decision to use the new structure follows ISO’s long-standing attempts to develop a harmonised, common framework for all its management system standards, which include ISO 9001, on quality management systems, and ISO 27001, for IT security.
Following a ballot in 2011, those developing new, or revising existing standards, have been mandated to use the new structure.
The working group revising 14001 met for the first time in Berlin for a three-day meeting on 22 February and began the process of integrating the existing standard into the new structure, and identifying key issues that will need to be worked through in future sessions. These include 24 key recommendations from an international study group, which reported in 2010 on the future challenges for environment management systems.
August 2011
The International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) has started consultation on the update of the environmental management standard ISO14001:2004. This will be a long process and is likely to continue the process of aligning different systems so that they follow commonality in areas where this is possible.
ISO14001 already aligns in terms of clause and subject matter with OHSAS 18001:2007 systems on health and safety, much simplifying things for those companies wishing to integrate their documentation, audits, roles and controls. It is likely that this mechanism of cross-over will continue so that doubling system certification is never going to be double the work.
Given this, it is possible that there will be more common clauses in future standards – i.e. using set clauses on subjects and topics that are universal to all management systems. A bonus to those considering integrating systems or those about to embark on the development of new systems covering more than one management subject.
ISO 14001 has never been a certification that recognises actual good environmental performance, but does recognise those businesses that have committed to reducing any negative impacts of their activities. This allows businesses that may not have a good record to date to get ‘on-board’ and to claim that they are ‘green’. On balance, it is likely that identifying
environmental issues and managing these is better than simply awarding a system certificate to only the best around.
Here at QCS International we frequently install ISO 14001 environmental systems, usually finding keen environmental managers with a list of actions and activities from recycling initiatives to energy saving schemes. Note that such actions are a RESULT of your management system and not a requirement of it.
In fact, if you are very environmentally aware and already exhibit best practice it is likely to be more difficult for you to demonstrate continual improvement – a requirement that is unlikely to go in any revision of the standard.
As we learn more about the updates being considered we will let you know via this blog. Whatever the outcome, it should make both integration and reporting on continual improvements easier and clearer.