: Garry Cornell
: The ISO 14001:2015 Companion A Straightforward Guide to Implementing an EMS in a Small Business
: Advisera Expert Solutions Ltd
: 9789538155161
: 1
: CHF 31.00
:
: Management
: English
: 357
: DRM
: PC/MAC/eReader/Tablet
: ePUB

Garry Cornell has more than 25 years' experience working in Environmental Management as a senior manager, consultant, and certification auditor. He has worked with businesses internationally, in a range of different industries, helping them to implement and improve their environmental management standards.


This book aims to give you an explanation of what is typically required by the ISO 14001 standard, taking technical terminology and 'Standard Speak' and interpreting it into something understandable.


Although this book is written primarily for people who are new to environmental management, or new to implementing ISO 14001, it can be used by a much wider audience.


The book was written for those of you who will take responsibility for driving the development of environmental management in your business. This book can also be used if you are an auditor, especially an internal auditor, to understand more about what you should expect to find in a good EMS. It provides advice on how to conduct internal audits, but you can also refer to different sections to understand what the clauses of the standard really expect from the business. If you are a CEO or CTO, this book will help you to understand what sort of commitment is required to implement ISO 14001. It will also show you how to turn that initial thought into reality within your business, including the costs and benefits you will likely see in return.


This book is also useful to those who have more experience in environmental management, because the changes in the ISO 14001:2015 version are explained throughout this book. In addition to containing a section dedicated to understanding the changes, the book was written to reflect what the new standard requires and how to implement those changes. Consultants can also gain knowledge from the explanation of the changes in the ISO 14001:2015 standard and, because the book not only explains what should happen, it also provides ideas and techniques for how to make those things happen. This will help you guide your clients through some of the human issues they might encounter when trying to drive change, in addition to the technicalities. Although the book guides you through the certification process, you can use this book whether or not you are planning certification. Maybe you just want to benefit from better environmental management, and from implementing a really good EMS.

1. INTRODUCTION


 

This chapter introduces you to environmental management ideas, and the use of ISO 14001. It explains how you can use this book to help you implement an EMS in your business.

 

1.1 Why environmental management? Why ISO 14001?


For the last 20 to 30 years, environmental management within businesses has grown as a discipline. It is no longer just environmental pressure groups who care about the environment; it has become a mainstream political issue and a topic that most people have an opinion about.

Although climate change is the topic that springs to most people’s minds when thinking about environmental issues, it’s not the only issue. Others include loss of areas such as tropical rainforests and coral reefs, desertification (desert areas growing rapidly), lack of clean water, air pollution, use of limited natural resources, and pollution of water and land. In addition, there are local environmental issues that affect us every day, such as pollution from industry, waste, traffic, noise, dust, and other nuisances.

Billions of dollars’ worth of research by universities and other institutes has expanded our knowledge of how people can impact the environment. We know so much more now than we did, say, 10 years ago. And, it seems like the more we understand, the more we have to worry about!

This research leads to generally accepted theories, which become mainstream knowledge in society, institutions, and pressure groups like Greenpeace. Pressure is then exerted on governments to enact legislation or regulations to control or manage environmental impacts.

Businesses are therefore hit by both regulatory requirements from governments, and social pressures. These pressures are felt either directly through sales, or indirectly through shareholder requirements or other customer demands.

The reality is that for businesses to operate today, your personal views on whether climate change is happening or not are as irrelevant as whether you think businesses should pay taxes or not.

Environmental management is now a requirement for most businesses, whether you like it or not.

The good news is that in most cases, a good Environmental Management System will contribute to your business. Not just because it means you will win the contract with the customer who requires ISO 14001 certification, but also because good environmental management is about working smarter, wasting less, using less, and reducing costs.

ISO 14001 is an international standard that was developed not only to provide a standard against which different businesses can demonstrate their environmental credentials, but also to provide all types of businesses with a model and framework to follow to help them manage environmental issues.

The ISO 14001 standard provides a very useful and comprehensive guide on how to understand what environmental issues matter to your business, how to go about reducing the likelihood of being exposed to any possible environmental problems, and how to gain the most benefit to your business from environmental management. It will work together with other management systems, and while allowing you to focus on the important environmental issues.

The other benefits to your business come through what your own people think about working for you. There is evidence that businesses with a good environmental reputation will find it easier to recruit new staff, particularly younger staff. Many businesses have successfully used environmental issues to engage with staff in a way that they never could before with such uninspiring topics as quality or financial controls.

So, ISO 14001 and environmental management doesn’t need to be just another bureaucratic pile of paperwork. It can be something that really helps the business, in both the short term and the long term. Done the right way, it can change a business’ future for the better, and hopefully help the rest of our futures, too. 

 

1.2 Basic environmental management principles


Environmental management is not too di