The three most common reasons for ISO 14001 registration: - Customer requirement, - Competitive market advantage and - Cost or risk reduction through improved management.
The audit process can identify opportunities for improvement in your management system. When you successfully complete the ISO 14001 registration process, you will be registered to a management system environmental standard with worldwide recognition.
By the end of 1999, over 340,000 businesses world-wide had been registered to the ISO 9000 quality system standards. While the number of companies using ISO 9000 continues to grow, use of the ISO 14000 environmental management standards could have an even greater impact on businesses globally.
The ISO 14000 series of standards was developed by ISO Technical Committee (TC) 207 for guidance in environmental management systems and tools. As of January 2001, almost 24,000 organizations worldwide had already become registered to ISO 14001, a specification standard for environmental management systems (EMS). The momentum building with ISO 14001 makes it clear that environmental management is becoming the new business priority.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Similarities Between ISO 9001 and ISO 14001:
Companies that have already implemented quality systems which are comprehensive enough to meet the ISO 9001 standard have a clear advantage in implementing an EMS. There are many similarities between these ISO 9000 standards and ISO 14001.
All management systems, whether focused on quality, safety, or the environment, have certain core elements. These include: - Policy - Defined organization and responsibilities - Defined and documented standard practices - Control of critical operations - Document and Data Control - Training - Records system - Internal audits - Corrective action system - Management review for continual improvement
In the case of ISO 9001 and ISO 14001, there are similar(although not identical) requirements for all of these core elements.
