In less than five months the International Organization for Standardization
(ISO) is expected to publish an environmental management system
standard some are calling "revolutionary" and one that
many predict will become more commonly known than the ISO 9000
quality management and quality assurance standards are today.
While hundreds of companies large and small are in the first stages
of implementing the key standard in the ISO 14000 series -- ISO
14001 Environmental Management Systems -- Specification with
Guidance for Use many more are taking a skeptical look at
whether, how and where it might benefit their operations before
jumping in.
Those who have decided to pursue ISO 14001 are doing it for reasons
ranging from gaining internal efficiencies to positioning themselves
for seizing contracting opportunities.
Kohler Company and its Kohler Plumbing North America facilities
are among those modifying existing environmental management systems
(EMSs) to meet the standards requirements without deciding yet
whether to seek full implementation or go for internal or third-party
system certification.
Tom Gehl, Director of Environmental Engineering, Safety, and Chemical
& Metallurgical Lab at Kohler Company, cautions plating and
finishing industry members to understand "the important thing
is not to be overwhelmed by it. Look at it with an open mind and
use what makes sense to you."
Kohler is a privately held company headquartered in Kohler, Wisconsin,
with some 17 subsidiaries and affiliates and 17,000 employees
worldwide, according to company sources. Best know for its plumbing
products, the company has diversified into furniture and small
engine manufacturing with facilities in Europe, the Peoples Republic
of China, Indonesia, Morocco, Egypt, and elsewhere. Gehl notes
that economic drivers are likely to come first from Europe, where
several governments have indicated they will prefer to purchase
from companies certified to ISO 14001 (See sidebar for more information
on Kohlers EMS.)
While ISO 14001 and other documents in the series are beginning
to enter the common language of business, Joseph Cascio, chairman
of the U.S. Technical Advisory Group on the standards and the
lead US delegate to ISOs Technical Committee 207 working on the
standards, says most people are missing the whole point.
"The great expectation is that ISO 14000 will become the
engine for fostering the environmental ethic within organizations.
The ramifications of such change are potentially vast as individuals
begin to export their environmental sensitivity from their workplace
to their homes and families. ISO 14000 has the promise to drive
societies to realize the much-desired but elusive goal of sustainable
development. It will foster the development of clean technologies,
greater environmental protection, and, for those with a bottom-line
orientation, greater competitiveness."
So what is ISO 14000? Following are the top ten things you should
know.
1. ISO 14000 Is A Series
First, ISO 14000 is the term used for the entire series of 17
environmental management documents in various stages of development;
there is no ISO 14000 standard per se. They are voluntary standards
that may take on the auspices of mandates as customers begin selecting
suppliers who meet their criteria.
The series is known collectively as standards though only
ISO 14000 qualifies as a true standard containing requirements
against which companies can be audited. Five of the standards
-- the EMS specification and guidance documents, and three auditing
guidance documents -- are at Final Draft International Standard
(FDIS) stage and are expected to be published in the fall. Some
countries have already adopted ISO 14001 for domestic use. The
American National Standards Institute will do so when ISO 14001
becomes final.
The standards can be classified in two categories according to
their focus:
Organization and process evaluation standards:
Product-oriented standards:
The terms-and-definitions standard (ISO 14050) harmonizes the
language among the others.
The ISO 14000 standards are aimed at giving companies direction
for managing, measuring, improving, and communicating the environmental
aspects of their operations. Experts predict that they will influence
how you design and manufacture your products, select raw materials,
market, gather and manage environmental data, and communicate
data internally and externally.
ISO 14001 is the backbone of the series and, like ISO 9000, relies
on changes in your organizational commitments, focus, and behavior
rather than on coercion from governmental authorities to encourage
improved corporate conduct. But unlike ISO 9000, it requires your
company to account for the significant environmental impacts of
all its activities on the surroundings.
High Global Expectations Fomented The Standards
It has taken less than five years for industry members of ISO
from nearly 50 countries to negotiate the language of the five
FDISs -- and unprecedented effort in the international arena for
standards of this scope and caliber. ISO is made up mainly of
industry and government standards bodies from 118 countries. Established
in 1946, ISOs goal is to promote and facilitate the exchange
of goods and services worldwide. ANSI represents the U.S.
Some observers trace the genesis of the ISO 14000 series to the
United Nations Conference on Human Environment in Stockholm in
1972, attended by more than 113 country delegations. This conference
spawned the United Nations Environment Program and a global action
plan for fostering environmental responsibility. In 1991, ISO
took up the reins and asked for recommendations on developing
international environmental standards. In January 1993, ISO created
TC 207, charged with developing standardization "in the field
of environmental management tools and systems."
In parallel, the European Union (E.U.) adopted the Eco-Management
and Audit Scheme in 1990. EMAS establishes specifications for
EMSs of companies doing business in the E.U. and mirrors ISO 14001,
but with more prescriptive requirements. The E.U. is expected
to recognize ISO 14001 to be equivalent to EMAS, as long as companies
meet the requirements in a "bridge" document being developed
to span the differences.
Development of ISO 14001 was marked by heated debate over how
prescriptive it should be. The Europeans, for example, argued
that, in the absence of a regulatory "watchdog" such
as the Environmental Protection Agency, the public will not have
faith in a standard that leaves too much interpretation to industry.
They fought in favor of a standard that clearly linked a management
system with environmental performance, making both auditable.
The U.S., Canada and Japan, among others, disagreed, claiming
that extensive laws and regulations already govern environmental
practices. The link was made, but only indirectly -- a company
determines in its environmental policy statement whether and to
what extent environmental objectives and targets might be auditable.
ISO 14001 Myths Abound
One prevailing misunderstanding should be cleared up. ISO 14001
is not a performance standard. Furthermore, the standard
requires continuous improvement of your companys EMS -- not of
its environmental effects. By setting achievable goals and targets,
a company can satisfy this element of the standard. In addition,
ISO 14001
Requirements Are Straightforward
Kohlers Gehl notes that the standard itself is rather short and
straightforward -- only 17 clauses -- and you probably already
are in conformance with much of the standards requirements. For
many companies conformance will be a matter of formalizing and
documenting existing procedures, creating and benchmarking data
records, and identifying and filling any remaining gaps.
The first requirement is that your company have a publicly available
environmental policy articulated by top management. It should
be appropriate to the nature of your organization, and include
commitments to pollution prevention and continual improvement
of the EMS.
You must establish and maintain procedures to identify significant
environmental aspects and their associated impacts. Legal and
other requirements also have to be available and procedures to
ensure compliance should be consistent with the environmental
policy. Objectives and targets must be documented and must be
consistent with the goals of the environmental policy.
When the policy is implemented, each employees role and position
must be clearly defined and that person must be aware of the impact
of his or her work on the environment. It is the responsibility
of your company to ensure that all employees are adequately trained.
Kohler emphasizes training, Gehl says, because by "empowering people to understand the process and ramifications of problems, you allow them to troubleshoot. You can find and correct the problem.
Weve had very good success with the Stop Training For Safety
program developed by DuPont." An EMS helps make processes
transparent to everyone and offers a way to root out systemic
problems.
ISO 14001 further requires you to set up the EMS to facilitate
internal communication. To that end, all relevant documentation
should be easily available and usable, in either print or electronic
form.
Organizations are expected to monitor and document their environmental
effects continually and to review them periodically to ensure
the EMS is effective and improving. Management is responsible
for an internal review of the EMS on a regular basis.
The first series of requirements forms the policy -- the underpinning
of the system. The second part establishes the EMS and the necessary
operational mechanisms. The third part mandates the reviews to
ensure compliance with the requirements of the EMS, including
continual improvement.
Specifically, ISO 14001 consists of the following sections:
0 Introduction.
1. Scope. This specifies the requirements for an EMS to enable an organization "to formulate a policy and objectives taking into account legislative requirements and information about significant environmental impacts. It applies to those environmental effects which the organization can control and over which it can be expected to have an influence. It does not itself state specific environmental performance criteria."
2. Normative References
3. Definitions
4. Environmental Management System Requirements
4.0 General
4.1 Environmental Policy
4.2 Planning
4.2.1 environmental aspects
4.2.2 legal and other requirements
4.2.3 objectives and targets
4.2.4 environmental management programme(s)
4.3 Implementation and Operation
4.3.1 structure and responsibility
4.3.2 training, awareness and competence
4.3.3 communication
4.3.4 environmental management system documentation
4.3.5 document control
4.3.6 operational control
4.3.7 emergency preparedness and response
4.4 Checking and Corrective Action
4.4.1 monitoring and measurement
4.4.2 non-conformance and corrective and preventive action
4.4.3 records
4.4.4 environmental management system audit
4.5 Management Review. The standard states that the organizations top management is charged with the responsibility to "review the environmental management system, to ensure its continuing suitability, adequacy and effectiveness. The management review process shall ensure that the necessary information is collected to allow management to carry out this evaluation."
Annex A (Informative), Guidance on the Use of the Specification
. This annex is included to provide clarification to avoid any
misinterpretation, and is not intended for the use in audits.
It is divided into sections mirroring the main body of the standard.
Annex B (Informative). This annex contains bibliographical references
to the ISO 9000 quality management and quality assurance standards,
and to any ISO 14000 series document that exists at the time of
publication. This is likely to include the ISO 14010 auditing
standards.
Annex C (Informative). Offers a chart illustrating the links
between ISO 14001 and ISO 9001, showing where clauses in the two
have largely congruent requirements.
(To be continued in a future issue)