These pages should help you to understand the International Standards Organization's 14000 standard and decide how to implement it. Click on a topic below to jump to that section. Or start with a Quick explanation of ISO14000.

1. "Plan" step
2. "Do" step
3. "Check" step
4. "Act" step

Quick Explanation:

ISO 14001 is a new (late 1996) standard for Environmental Management Systems. It was based upon the ISO 9000 family of specifications, so if you are family with the terms and structure of ISO9001/9002 you will readily grasp ISO14000. The key aspects of ISO14000 are that it is

• voluntary,
• flexible and nonprescriptive,
• Can use existing environmental programs and systems,
• pushes continual improvement,
• encourages cost saving by integrating environmental requirements into the overall company systems (design, manufacturing, etc.) and
• can provide a substantial market advantage.

A primary component of the ISO 14001 standard is the "Environmental Policy" which must be defined by an organization's top management. This environmental policies must include a commitment to both compliance with environmental laws & company policies, continual improvement and prevention of pollution. A system is then created (or if already existing, documented) that ensures that the environmental policy is carried out by the organization. This involves planning, implementation and operations, checking and corrective action, and management review.

The ISO Environmental Standards for Environmental Management Systems (EMS) are a series of completely voluntary standards and guideline reference documents which include environmental management systems, eco-labeling, environmental auditing, life cycle assessment, environmental performance evaluation, and environmental aspects in product standards. It is the focus on management" that distinguishes these standards from "performance" standards. An EMS help and organization to establish and meet its own policy goals through objectives and targets, organizational structures and accountability, management controls and review functions all with top management oversight.

EMS do not set specific requirements for environmental compliance nor do these standards establish requirements for specific levels of pollution prevention or performance.

Guide to Developing an Environmental Management System - Check

Other Steps of the EMS Cycle

• Plan
• Do
• Act

Background

Building an Environmental Management System (EMS) might sound like an overwhelming task for a smaller organization, but it need not be. Taken in steps, it is a job that small and medium-sized organizations can tackle. These pages will take you through basic steps as they are outlined in the 2001 Second Edition of Environmental Management Systems: An Implementation Guide for Small and Medium Sized Organizations. The content on this page pulls out particular steps from the "Check" section of the Guide, and points back to specific pages in the guide to fill out worksheets and get additional materials.

Check: Checking, including monitoring and corrective action

As discussed earlier, it is recommended that your EMS be built on the "Plan, Do, Check, Act" model to ensure that environmental matters are systematically identified, controlled, and monitored. Using this approach will help to ensure that performance of your EMS improves over time and that you meet your goals for implementing an EMS in the first place.

This stage continues the step-by-step action plan for developing and implementing the elements of an EMS. By this time, you should have sufficient EMS processes in place to begin to "check" your EMS. One approach is discussed below.

Conduct Internal EMS Audits
Once internal auditors have been selected and trained, you should design and initiate the internal auditing process. At this point, you should have sufficient EMS processes in place to conduct meaningful audits. Many organizations find that it is easier to start with smaller, more frequent audits than to audit the entire EMS at once. These early audits can serve as a learning tool. Audit records should be managed in accordance with the records management process. Once the audit results are known, use the corrective and preventive action process to address any identified problems.