ISO 14001 Environmental Management System Standard

What is ISO 14001?

An environmental management system provides organisations with the systems to manage their environmental impacts and deliver organisational results in a sustainable manner. ISO 14001 certification is the internationally recognized standard to prove your company’s environmental management system meets all requirements and can be audited by an independent body.

Environmental sustainability is an enormous challenge for organisations of today.

Environmental sustainability is an enormous challenge for organisations of today. The legal structures have become complex and onerous. Organisations can operate efficiently only when they proactively manage the environmental impacts with their business processes.

This ISO standard for environmental management is suitable for organisations of all types and sizes. With this EMS in place, your business grows without hurting the environment in any way.

The ISO 14001 Certification Process

STEP 1

APPLICATION AND CONTRACT

Once you have developed and effectively implemented the management systems based on ISO 14001 standard. The first and foremost is to choose your certification body. There are many to choose from. You will want to develop a list of criteria that are important in your certification partner. The criteria must include; is the certification body is fully Australian owned, is friendly, responsive, flexible and provides value added service. Please follow the link; https://www.sustainablecertification.com.au/get-a-quote/

STEP 2

OPTIONAL PRE-ASSESSMENT

When you are not sure if your system meets the ISO 14001 certification requirements of the standard, you can request for a review your existing management systems. One of our auditors will evaluate your system against the standard and will give you a report to assist you with fixing gaps before proceed to Stage1.

STEP 3

STAGE 1 AUDIT

A review of your management system(s) documentation against the standard is undertaken. This is the first step in the certification process.

STEP 4

CERTIFICATION AUDIT

The Certification Audit is conducted on site to verify that you have effectively implemented your own management system across your organisation.

STEP 5

YEARS 2 & 3: CERTIFICATION MAINTENANCE

We will conduct Surveillance Audit at least once every 12 months to check the ongoing implementation of management systems across your organisation.

STEP 6

RE CERTIFICATION

The cycle starts again with a stage 1 and stage 2 audits.

Improving Business’ Environmental Impact

There are three main reasons why ISO 14001 accreditation is a must for businesses: 

  1. It provides a detailed framework for companies to manage their environmental responsibilities through setting objectives, targets and improving on their practices;
  2. It can help your business meet legal and regulatory requirements for environmental management; 
  3. It is often a prerequisite of many customers and in some industries, like the building industry, it might be required to win work. 

Who Can Get ISO 14001?

ISO 14001 certification is available not only for Environmental Management Systems but also for several specific environmental aspects like: 

  • Pollution Prevention
  • Energy Management
  • Environmental Labeling and Product Certification Systems
  • Environmental Performance Evaluation, Auditing and Reporting Systems 
  • Risk Management Systems (e.g. Occupational Safety & Health) 

You can implement an environmental management system to any level of detail, depending on your business and resources. For example, you may want a simple EMS that only has basic key performance indicators in place to help demonstrate responsibility. Or you might need a more extensive EMS which covers all aspects of environmental management within the organization.

Key Benefits of ISO 14001 Certification

Some of the key benefits consists of:

Meet all environmental compliance requirements, which supports expansion of your business

Reduce your environmental impact of business activities

Utilise resources in an efficient and effective manner

Improve profits through an improvement in efficiency

Certification to ISO 14001 allows you to:

  • Better environmental management reduces waste and energy use
  • Improve efficiency to cut the cost of running your business
  • Demonstrate compliance to expand your business opportunities
  • Meet legal obligations to win greater stakeholder and customer trust
  • Prepare for the changing business landscape confidently
  • Increase your access to new customers and business partners
  • Enhance your reputation

Contact the team at Sustainable Certification and find out more about ISO 14001 costs, the certification process and the requirements of ISO 14001.