There are over 440,000 organizations certified to ISO 14001 worldwide, and this number is growing every year. In Austria, there are over 2,200 ISO 14001 certificates.
In general, ISO 14001:2015 also follows a high-level structure (HLS), similar to ISO 9001. Important topics of these revisions are already defined by the relevant requirements: New priorities related to risk-based thinking, leadership, taking into account the organizational context, focusing on competencies, and standardized documented information are themes defined by this common structure and relevant key content. HLS supports the integration of specific requirements into an Integrated Management System.
- Protecting the environment by eliminating or reducing harmful effects
- Limiting possible negative impacts on the organization
- Supporting organizations in fulfilling their binding obligations
- Improving environmental efficiency
- Controlling or influencing how products and services are developed, produced, distributed, consumed, or disposed of by an organization
- Achieving possible financial and operational benefits to strengthen market position
- Communicating environmental information to relevant and interested parties to promote trust
According to the 2015 revision, ISO 14001 has a new structure:
- Range
- Normative references
- Terms and definitions
- Organizational context
- Leadership
- Planning
- Support
- Action
- Performance evaluation
- Improvement
Overview of the most important requirements of the ISO 14001:2015 standard.
Clause 4 – Context
The requirement to analyze an organization's context aims to better conceptually and comprehensively understand the organization, for example, in terms of internal and external stakeholders, their needs and expectations, and possible influencing factors. Context also means considering the state of the environment. This condition affects the organization, while the organization influences the state of the environment through the organization's activities, products, and services.
Clause 5 - Leadership
Management is required to demonstrate even greater leadership. This means that environmental aspects must be integrated into business processes, strategic planning, and decision-making. Top management is taking on a more prominent role, not only because top management is expected to act as role models (active leadership), but also because the classic Environmental Representative is no longer required. In practice, however, this person will still be responsible for meeting complex and diverse technical, legal, regulatory, and ecological requirements on a daily basis.
Clause 6 – Planning
In line with the high-level framework, a risk-based approach can be found in ISO 14001:2015. This approach involves identifying risks and opportunities from the perspective of context analysis, environmental aspects and impacts, legal requirements, and crisis preparedness and response. This can result in opportunities and threats. Appropriate actions will need to be planned, implemented, and reviewed for effectiveness. The organization will need to determine the environmental aspects of its operations, products, and services that it can control and influence. Based on established criteria, the associated environmental impact will need to be determined. The term "legal requirements" becomes "compliance obligation." This encompasses compliance with legal requirements, additional conditions, and voluntary self-commitment. Here, the wording has changed substantially.
Clause 7 – Support
Awareness and competence are separate sub-clauses in Clause 7. This means that they are being improved compared to previous periods. Internal and external communication are becoming more important. Internal communication is closely linked to the internal context. Similarly, external communication is closely linked to the external context. External communication is essential to increasing trust through dialogue on environmental performance with external target groups. Clause 7 also establishes requirements for documented information.
Clause 8 – Action
Clause 8 is primarily devoted to operational planning and control, primarily process control, including outsourced processes. The requirement for a lifecycle perspective on products and services paves the way for a new requirement throughout the standard and is described extensively in clause 8.1. It is true that a detailed lifecycle analysis, as defined by ISO 14044, is not required. Nevertheless, all lifecycle phases must be considered, and organizations are required to assess the extent to which they can control and influence them. In clause 8.2, "Emergency Preparedness and Response," clause 8 also specifies requirements for emergency preparedness and response.
Clause 9 – Performance Appraisal
Environmental performance requires improvement. This term is not new in principle. Environmental performance is the measurable result of an organization's environmental management. Metrics now play a role in this review. Evaluating input performance also includes a review of compliance obligations, an internal audit, and a management review. This completes the circle for top management.
Quality Austria Certification GmbH has been awarded ISO 14001 accreditation by Akkreditierung Austria based on the ISO/IEC 17021-1 standard.
EMAS, ISO 50001, ISO 9001, ISO 45001, SCC, Sustainability Reports
Contact
Team
Claudia Bienioszek-Buczek
Customer Service Center Director Phone: +48322266007 Mobile: +48517676569