The environmental management system standard ISO 14001 has recently undergone a revision, and the new draft is open for comments from registered users in the UK.
BSI, the UK’s national standards body, is leading the public consultation process that aims to gain feedback to develop an international best practice standard for environmental management and establish clear business guidance.
Comments are to be submitted by 31 October 2014, and UK registered members can record their views online.
The final revised standard is expected at the ‘end of 2015’, subject to the feedback submitted during the consultation phase.
About the standard
According to BSI, ISO 14001 is ‘one of the most successful standards in environmental management worldwide’ and has ‘benefitted over 250,000 organisations’.
It is designed to enable users to reduce the cost of waste management, save in consumption of energy and materials and lower distribution costs.
David Fatscher, Head of Market Development for Sustainability at BSI, said: “ISO 14001 is one of the most important standards of our time, especially in the context of sustainable business growth and the direct impacts it can have on the entire environmental landscape.
“This much anticipated revision is the first since 2004 and will enable organisations stay to abreast of the changes in the environmental management arena, ensuring that they [are] at the crest of the information curve.”
Details of the revision
This is the standard’s first major revision and the BSI states that it includes input from 40 experts from 25 countries across all sectors.
Revisions include:
- a new framework of terms, definitions, headings and text that will be common to all management system standards;
- a greater understanding of the organisation’s context in an attempt to improve knowledge of the factors that affect the organisation’s environmental responsibilities;
- strengthened links to top management’s responsibility for the management system and its integration into organisational objectives;
- a recognition of the relationship between environmental management and sustainability;
- a consideration of effects on the organisation from the environment, including climate change; and
- an increased emphasis on the organisation’s value chain, and consideration of outsourced processes.
Read more information about the revised standard or submit comments on the draft.
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