The ISO 14001 standard is a globally recognized standard that offers organizations practical tools for managing their environmental responsibilities. It can assist any organization, regardless of activity or sector, in mapping a framework for developing a competitive environmental management system. It is a powerful tool for identifying and methodically minimizing potentially adverse environmental impacts. The ISO 14001 standard focuses on enhancing environmental performance rather than management system performance.
The organization will experience difficulties keeping the implementation process on track during implementation, but by managing these difficulties, it can continue to make progress toward implementing ISO 14001 as planned. The organization will be prepared for any issues that may arise by putting the following five elements in place.
1) Know where to start: There is no single spot to begin the implementation of an environmental management system (EMS) by ISO 14001 standards because it will vary from firm to company. The EMS must be business-specific and address the processes and environmental interactions that are particular to the firm to be successful after it is deployed. Obtaining a pre-written, immutable set of policies and procedures won't work.
For this reason, it is best, to begin with, some form of gap analysis that contrasts your present environmental management practices with the standards of ISO 14001, which will let you know what extra has to be done to be fully compliant. The organization is on a solid platform to begin implementing ISO 14001 without running into unexpected problems that could have been anticipated and prevented.
2) Management Support is Crucial: It might be possible to complete the implementation process with only minimal management support, but the organization will need some sort of management review. For instance, maintaining the environmental management system without ongoing support from management will be challenging, but not impossible. Yet, the attempt to implement an EMS will probably fail if management does not support it. To ensure that sufficient resources (such as cash and human resources) are accessible and that any obstacles can be surmounted, management must be involved.
3) Start with the basics: There are four key elements of an effective environmental management system that should be implemented initially since they serve as the foundation for many of the other sections of the EMS:
- Environmental policy: The ISO 14001 EMS policy is established by top management and explains the company's overall aims and strategy in dealing with its environmental impact.
- Legal requirements: You can work towards legal compliance and construct an EMS to support this by recognizing, comprehending, and maintaining awareness of the environmental regulations that relate to your organization.
- Environmental Aspects: The environmental aspects are the good or negative interactions between the procedures used by the business and the environment. The environmental management system created to meet ISO 14001 regulations must be built on the foundation of understanding these interactions.
- Objectives, Targets & Programs: Organizations can create objectives, targets, and a program to concentrate on the improvement needed for the organization once the environmental policy, legal requirements management, and environmental aspects management have been put into place. After all, putting in place an EMS was done so that things could be improved.
4) Pick the right EMS representative: It is not only a requirement of ISO 14001 to have a member of top management responsible for the environmental management system, but it is also a good idea. This individual serves as a communication link between top management and the EMS, providing information on how it is operating, what resources are required, and where improvements can be made. The foundation of the EMS can be strengthened by selecting the correct individual for this position, but having an inefficient person in this position can lead to delays and problems.
5) Know how you will gain the necessary knowledge: If you're implementing ISO 14001 for the first time, as most businesses are, you'll need to find a way to learn what you need to know to implement your EMS properly. Three choices are available:
- Using only your workers: To ensure that you do not overlook anything in the implementation, users will need to obtain ISO 14001 awareness training for either themselves or their co-workers. Organizations can provide training for their staff members or gather resources online, such as templates and tutorials, to help ensure success.
- The staff with outside support: As stated above, companies can decide to implement ISO 14001 on their while also utilizing certain outside resources to facilitate the process. This could involve using online tools as resources to facilitate the task or hiring a consultant to serve as an outside expert.
- Hire a consultant to complete the work: There's always the option of hiring an ISO 14001 consultant to handle everything. While this may be quicker, it can also be more expensive, and the ISO 14001 consultant may depart with little knowledge of the EMS, making it more challenging to maintain. Avoid this by learning as much as you can from the consultant.
Source: https://ems14001consultant.wordpress.com/2023/04/10/5-key-elements-that-help-to-make-a-successful-iso-14001-ems-system/
