ISO 14001 Standard, What is it and what is it for?

What is the ISO 14001 standard?

The objective of this certification is based on applying an environmental management system. It allows organizations to show their customers, suppliers and competitors that they are committed to protecting the environment and that they are responsible in their production systems to take care of it.

It works under the Plan, Do, Check and Act system or commonly known as the PDCA method. To learn more about the PDCA method, you can visit our article: Continuous improvement. How to implement it in your company?

Benefits of the environmental management system

The application of the standard generates a series of benefits, but it must also be taken into account that some difficulties may arise in its management, since surely some of the procedures must be modified in order to comply with its requirements.

Among its benefits we can find:

• Commitment to the environment
• Improve business performance
• Improve business reputation
• Cost savings
• Continuous improvement
• Participation of collaborators

In addition to the advantages mentioned above, the application of an environmental management system will have an impact on the optimization of resources and waste, which will generate a reduction in the environmental impact generated by the organization.

What are the requirements to be able to certify the standard?

In order for your company to certify the ISO environmental management system standard, you must create an environmental management plan that includes the following points:

• Environmental goals and objectives
• Policies that support the goals
• Procedures and systems to reach the goals
• Environmental responsibilities
• Staff training on new procedures and goals

The ISO 14001 standard develops the process that organizations must follow, but also requires compliance with national environmental laws.

How to get certified?

To obtain the certificate of the standard, you simply have to implement an environmental management system in your company, and then carry out an audit where it is reflected that the requirements established by the standard are met. Next, we will detail the steps to follow:

• • Making the decision to get certified
  The process to obtain certification entails changes in your organization, which is why the decision must be made to start this process that will influence and bring benefits to all areas of the company.
  • To plan
  The next step is to establish the management system to be applied, where the policies, scope, goals and objectives must be defined. At this time, it is necessary to review the processes that are currently carried out, how they interact with each other and their impact on the environment.It must be taken into account that there are processes that must be included in a mandatory manner, while others can be included as they are considered necessary.
  • Carry out the necessary documentation
  The policies, scope, goals and objectives that we established in the previous point must be documented. These documents will record what the management system is like.
  • Apply the management system
  When the management system is documented, it is time to put it into practice and implement it. We will manage to collect the necessary data to be able to carry out the audit successfully.
  • Internal audit
  Performing internal audits will be essential to verify and diagnose the requirements of ISO 14001. Having the right software to perform this task will be essential, since paper audits are time consuming and data loss, and the use of online documents, it becomes cumbersome when more than one person is involved.Apps like Full Audits allow you to simplify this task without technical training or server configurations. The mobile appl in combination with the web platform provides visibility and information to record compliance with the process.Obtaining a certification will demonstrate to your clients, partners and collaborators that you and your company are committed to sustainability and the environment, so we invite you to try a free demo so you can start your first steps towards ISO 14001 certification

• • External audit
  Once the internal audit has been carried out successfully, an external audit by ISO specialists should be carried out.A certifying entity will evaluate the development of the management system.First, it is controlled that the documents of the system adapt to the requirements of the standard and then, secondly, it is controlled if the processes are in accordance with the documentation carried out.If there is an error in meeting the requirements, it is corrected and how it was resolved is documented.
  • Certification
  Once the external audit is approved, the certificate is obtained. It is valid for 3 years, and an annual follow-up is carried out to guarantee the functioning of the management system.In this instance, you already know how to reinforce the image of your organization with an environmental vision and responsibility, increasing the possibility of increasing your sales or provision of your services, demonstrating your commitment to the environment in all your processes.