The ISO standard 14001 is recognized all over the world for its environmental management of practices within businesses of all types. The international organization of standardization created this certification in an effort to control the effects that a business has on natural resources and the environment. In addition to natural resources the policy also controls the monitoring of energy consumption and the treatment of waste products.
Having a way to monitor how company day to day operations affect environmental areas is a great thing to have. It gives companies a way to implement new procedures and policies which assist in improving overall efficiency and consumption. These improvements then lead to additional cost saving measures that in the end help a business run all that more efficiently and cleanly.
Most companies that implement this design are ones that want to help reduce the amount of waste products they are generating. They also look to reduce the amount of energy they are using and in some cases flat out wasting. Using this system they are able to comply with environmental laws and regulations along with ensuring their employees adhere to the new guidelines and practices.
The standards are designed in a framework type of manner that allows companies to use existing practices to create their own unique system. They are also able to use the framework to outline their strong and weak points so they can find ways of fixing or exploiting them. Enforcing these procedures will reduce the amount of energy consumption along with waste production throughout the company.
In order to provide a generalized outline the requirements are very generic in their forms. They can be used by any company regardless of the business type and helps to create a common point of reference. The reference point can then be accessed by customers, share holders, the public and other organizations as well.
In order to begin implementing this system a company will be required to evaluate the effect they have on the environment. Then they will need to determine workable solutions for reducing the effects by creating policies and procedures. Finally identification of the boundaries for the management system must be created and the procedures will need to be documented in preparation for implementation.
When all of the documentation for the policies and procedures has been completed an internal audit is required. The auditing process will review the new documentation and observe the procedures while they are in place and if a company is already 9001 series certified they may be able to integrate this system into an existing one. Being certified also covers a lot of the initial requirements as well and if they are not covered they can be added to the new system with little effort.
When the internal audit is done the company will have to seek out a third party company to come in and perform an external audit. If the system passes the external audit then the company will receive their ISO standard 14001certification. Continued audits are required in order to ensure the system is running normally and continuing to work as designed. Third party companies specializing in continued auditing procedures can be called in for an agreed upon fee. The fee involved will change due to company size and other underlying factors that must be discussed with the auditors themselves.
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The author regularly writes articles about ISO standards, and also creates content related to the business management field. For more information on this subject please visit http://www.hpa.co.uk/14001.asp
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