International environmental management Standard revised to align with ISO 9000

SAI Global Limited has published the latest version of the international environmental management Standard, ISO 14001:2004, which incorporates a number of key changes designed to help organisations manage, control, and report on their environmental performance.

In Australia around 850 organisations have implemented an environmental management system [EMS] and up to the end of December 2003, at least 66, 070 certificates had been issued to ISO 14001:1996 in 113 countries.

The Program Manager for Environment at SAI Global Limited, Karen Duncan, said: “Last year alone the ISO 14001 certification market grew about 34 per cent on the previous year, representing one of the largest annual increases recorded by an International Organization for Standardization [ISO] Survey.”

ISO 14001 specifies the requirements for an EMS, providing a framework for an organisation to identify and manage the environmental impact of its activities, products and services, and to improve its environmental performance continually,” said Ms Duncan.

“The Standard was revised to better align with one of the world‘s most popular management Standards, ISO 9001, and to reflect environmental management best practice.”

The changes include:

further alignment with the terms and conditions to ISO 9000
clarification that the intent of an EMS is for the identification and management of significant aspects
a focus on “organisational infrastructure” as a resource along with human resources
an increased focus on continual improvement and need to provide resources to effectively establish, implement, maintain and “improve the EMS”
an increased focus on compliance with legal and other requirements when establishing, implementing and maintaining an EMS

Other clarified requirements include the need for:

organisations to be more specific regarding the scope definition and documentation of their EMS
any person performing tasks with the potential to cause significant environmental impacts be competent including contractors and temporary staff
objectives and targets to be measurable and consistent with all the Policy commitments
all products, services and activities the organisation is involved in be covered by the EMS (as defined by the scope)

According to Ms Duncan: “While the revised version contains a number of clarifications the overall objective remains the same and an existing EMS that has been well implemented and maintained should require only minor modifications to achieve compliance against the revised Standard.”

“To help organisations successfully upgrade to the revised Standard an 18-month transition period, as defined by the International Accreditation Forum, is in place from 15 November, 2004.

“As part of the transition process I would encourage all organisations with an EMS certified to AS/NZS ISO 14001:1996 to undertake a training course to help come to terms with the changes to the Standard and begin working towards achieving certification.”

The transition will occur in accordance with the International Accreditation Forum (IAF) and a summary of key dates in the Transition Plan follows.

Defined Dates	Outcome/Requirements
15 November 2004	Publication of ISO14001:2004 (and ISO 14004:2004)
15 November 2004 – 15 May 2005	SAI Global and existing (or new) client organisations shall agree as to whether ISO 14001:1996 or ISO 14001:2004 is to be used as the audit criteria. The relevant audit criteria will be identified on the audit plan/record.
15 May 2005 – 15 May 2006	The revised Standard (ISO 14001:2004) will be the audit criteria for all audits
15 May 2006	New Standard fully implemented and criteria for all audits Any existing accredited certificates issued to ISO 14001:1996 will no longer be valid.

According to Ms Duncan: “For existing organisations certified to ISO 14001:1996, renewal of certificates will be against the new ISO 14001:2004 Standard and must be completed before the end of the transition period.

“I would also encourage organisations to purchase a copy of the other key environmental Standard which has been revised, ISO 14004:2004. This Standard provides guidelines on the elements of an EMS, its implementation and the principal issues involved and should help with the implementation process.”

For further details on the key changes to the Standards please visit: www.sai-global/assuranceservices/certification/EnvironmentalManagement/. The new Standards titled ISO 14001:2004, Environmental management systems - Specification with guidance for use, and ISO 14004:2004, Environmental management systems - General guidelines on principles, systems and supporting techniques can be purchased on-line at: www.standards.com.au. For further information about certification to the new Standard please visit: www.sai-global.com