Article | REF: G4600 V3

Environmental Management : the ISO 14001-2015 standard

Author: Jacques SALAMITOU

Publication date: April 10, 2016, Review date: September 2, 2020

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ABSTRACT

Implementating an environmental management system (EMS) has become inescapable for any organization. This article describes the organizational reasons for implementing an EMS, and the benefits induced thereby. An analysis of the ISO 14001-2015 standard, and detailed comments on its requirements then follow, together with the modifications relative to ISO 14001-2004. The reader will see that these modifications (with a few additions) concern the form more than the substance of the requirements. More importantly, these modifications enable organizations to take a common approach with other management systems standards. Hence ISO 14001-2004 certified organizations should have no major problems in achieving conformity with ISO 14001-2015 and obtaining renewal of their certification.

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AUTHOR

  • Jacques SALAMITOU: Engineer from École Centrale de Paris - PhD M.I.T, Cambridge, Mass., USA

 INTRODUCTION

The implementation of an environmental management system (EMS) is becoming a necessity for companies of all kinds, firstly to improve their overall performance and, secondly, to meet the demands of external parties concerned by their environmental management.

ISO 14001 "Environmental management systems. Specifications and guidelines for use", in its 2015 revised version, takes up the fundamental elements of the previous version (published in 2004), adding to them on certain points, but above all making it fully compatible with other management system standards, in particular ISO 9001-2015 concerning quality management. This is made possible by the creation of a structure common to all management standards, and by identical definitions for terms common to other management system standards.

The purpose of this article is to describe the contents of ISO 14001, version 2015, after recalling the environmental motivations for the company and the specificities of the environmental dimension. It also includes a description of the changes made to the previous version.

The model proposed by this standard offers a logical approach based on a recognized structure (Deming loop) which has proved its worth, particularly for the quality management system. Compliance with ISO 14001 enables third-party certification.

Note: the ISO 14001-2015 standard (like the 2004 version) is applicable to any type of organization; however, this article is specifically designed to help companies.

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KEYWORDS

continuous improvement   |   management system   |   Deming cycle   |   environmental management   |   Social responsibility of enterprises


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Environmental management: the ISO 14001-2015 standard