Revisions to ISO 14001 Launched

The International Standard ISO 14001 has once again been revised to help businesses meet various environmental responsibilities, sustainability challenges and ensure long-term business success.

First published in 1996 and last updated in 2004, it is effectively a structured framework for which an environmental management system can be implemented. It is flexible enough that it can be used by businesses of any size or in any market sector and concentrates on the identification of key environmental impacts and aspects and implementing measures to continually monitor, improve and review these associated impacts.

Certification is also now often used by businesses in pre-qualification tender processes and certification may also therefore be a substantial benefit (if not a pre-requisite) to any business, large or small, in winning new contracts or retaining existing clients.

According to Martin Baxter, IEMA’s Chief Policy Advisor, the key differences between the revised version of ISO 14001:2015 and the original Standard(s) are that it now requires businesses to:

• Implement proactive measures to help respond to growing environmental risks
• Establish management accountability for environmental performance and improvement, from the very top of the organisation
• Place greater emphasis on managing environmental impacts across all key business areas, and
• Improve the provision and external communication of reliable environmental information

ISO 14001 is of course designed to help businesses achieve these goals, although businesses do not need to be certified to use the revised 2015 Standard and there is a three-year transition period for those already using the 2004 version. With the obvious benefits of long-term energy efficiency cost-savings and potential for growth in an ever increasing competitive market, businesses are however strongly urged to sign-up to the scheme or where already subscribed, implement the 2015 changes at the earliest opportunity.

If you achieve ISO 14001 certification, require advice on how to implement the changes or want to know more about the environmental management systems provided by the S₂ Partnership’s please contact our team of specialist consultants for further help and advice.

To see how RiskWise underpins any environmental management system, click here, or contact us for a demonstration.