Tuesday, February 8, 2011

Lecture 3: Introduction to Environmental Management System ISO-14001 on 01 February 2011

In this lecture I explained to you what a management system means.

Management is about the optimum use of scarce resources for achieving the goal of an organization.

System refers to a set of policies, procedures and programmes which provide a framework for carrying out certain activities.

ISO-14001: Environmental Management Systems - Requirements and Guidance for use (2004) is the current updated version of the standard on environmental management systems issued by the International Institution of Standardization (ISO), Geneva.  ISO-14001 Standard was first issued in September, 1996.  ISO covers many environmental subjects, like LCA, Site Assessment, Environmental Performance indicators etc., under the series ISO 14000, of which ISO-14001 is a standard helping organizations to set up certifiable environmental management systems.

During the early days of ISO-14001, Japan was a leading country to embrace the certified system.  This was basically due to the understanding at that time that ISO-14001 certification could be used as a trade barrier in the WTO regime.  Japan, being an economy based on exports, was the first see this threat and many Japanese companies got ISO-14001 certified.  In the recent years, China has overtaken Japan in terms of the number of ISO-14001 certifications obtained.  It is estimated that more than 1000 organizations have got ISO 14001 certified in India.

The standard is applicable for any organization that is independent and can take environmental decisions on its behalf. Apart from manufacturing industry, municipalities, hospitals, hotels, colleges, departments of large organizations have got themselves certified to ISO 14001.  In India there are many organizations like BVQI, DNV, TUV, Lloyds, UL, STQC, BIS, IRQS, RINA etc., provide certification services for ISO 14001 management systems.

The system is based on the well known Plan-Do-Check-Act Cycle (or Deming's Cycle).  Even though it is not a requirement of the standard, before starting on the system the organization is expected to carry out a review of its environmental practices, procedures, stakeholder complaints and legal requirements; the review also involves information on storage of chemicals, accidents and incidents, emergency situations experienced in the past.  This review provides the basis for preparing the environmental policy.  Environmental Policy is the intent of the organization to improve its environmental performance.

To establish a system the organization has to identify and assess its environmental aspects.  Environmental aspects are those elements of the activity, product or service of the organization that can cause an impact on the environment.  This part (Plan) is one of the most important parts of the ISO 14001 environmental management system; the outcome of the identification and assessment of the environmental aspect is documented.  The next step in planning is to identify and access legal and other requirements relevant to the organization.   Environmental objectives, targets and programmes are established based on the policy, significant aspects and legal and other requirements.

In the  DO part of  the system, the following are addressed:  (a) Role, Responsibility and Authority for various people and activities; this includes the appointment of a management representative (MR) for the system with defined role and responsibility. (b) training of employees  to ensure competence to handle various activities that may cause significant environmental impact, (c) communicating to employees and other stakeholders as required, (d) documenting various procedures and recording information, (e) controlling the documents, (f) establishing and documenting operational control procedures which are important to address significant environmental aspects, including sharing relevant procedures with the supply chain, and (g) preparing the organization for facing accidents and emergencies.

The CHECK part includes: (a) calibration of equipments and monitoring of performance, (b) assessing compliance with legal and other requirements, (c) taking corrective and preventive actions and making the necessary changes in the documents, (d) maintaining records that can provide evidence on the working of the EMS and (e) carrying out EMS audits to check if the EMS has been established.

The ACT part consists of the Management Review, with agenda as prescribed by ISO 14001; the Management Review leads to the next cycle of PDCA.

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