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Sunday, February 19, 2012

ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT SYSTEM - INTRODUCTION

INTRODUCTION

There is growing concern all over the world for improving the quality of environment. More and more attention has been given in recent years to what is called ‘environmental quality’. Organizations are increasingly turning their attention to environmental impacts of their activities, products and services. These organizations are of all types and sizes. There is importance of the environmental performance of an organization to internal and external parties. There is a need of organizational commitment to a systematic approach and to continual improvement of an environmental management system (EMS) to achieve sound environmental performance. An environmental management system (EMS) is part of an organization’s overall management system. It is a systematic approach dealing with the environmental aspects of an organization. Environmental management system (EMS) is a tool, which enables an organization to control the impact of its activities, product and / or services on the natural environment. Environmental management system (EMS) provides a framework to help organizations to identify those aspects of their business that have a significant impact on the environment.

ISO 14001:2004 is an international standard that provides assistance to organizations that wish to implement or improve an environmental management system (EMS) and thereby improve their environmental performance. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) has published this international standard.

ORIGIN OF ISO 14001

International Organization for Standardization (ISO) had already established standards for the quality of air, water, and soil. During the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, the Business Council for Sustainable Development suggested that the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) should develop international standards for environmental performance based on the concept of sustainable development. In 1993, International Organization for Standardization (ISO) formed the technical committee 207 on environmental management to develop international standards for environmental management. Accordingly, ISO 14001 “Environmental Management Systems – Specification with guidance for use” was first published in 1996 and revised in 2004 and then published under the title “Environmental Management Systems – Requirements with guidance for use”.

ISO – INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATION FOR STANDARDIZATION

‘ISO’ is ‘International Organization for Standardization’. It is a worldwide federation of national standards bodies, comprising 163 members (as on 31 August 2010), one each country. The object of the ISO is to promote the development of standardization and related activities in the world with a view to facilitating international exchange of goods and services, and to developing cooperation in the spheres of intellectual, scientific, technological and economic activity. The results of ISO technical work are published as INTERNATIONAL STANDARDS. International Organization for Standardization (ISO) has its headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland. ISO has developed over 18,000 International Standard on a variety of subjects and some 1100 new ISO standards are published every year.

OBTAINING COPY OF THE STANDARD

Copy of ISO 14001:2004 EMS Standard and other ISO 14000 family Standards can be obtained from the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), Geneva, Switzerland. The Address of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) is as under:

International Organization for Standardization (ISO),
ISO Central Secretariat,
1, rue de Varembe, Case postale 56,
CH-1211 Geneva 20, Switzerland
Email: sales@iso.org

Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS – a national standards body of India) has also published Indian Standard IS/ISO 14001:2004 and other ISO 14000 family Standards as Indian Standards. The address of the Bureau of Indian Standards is as under:

Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS)
Manak Bhavan, 9, Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg,
New Delhi – 110002, India.

It is suggested to have a copy of ISO 14001:2004 EMS Standard from the ISO, Geneva (Switzerland) or IS/ISO 14001:2004 EMS Standard from the sales counter of Bureau of Indian Standards, New Delhi.


THE ISO 14000 SERIES

ISO 14000 is a series of international, voluntary environmental management standards. Developed under ISO Technical Committee 207, the ISO 14000 series of standards address the following aspects of environmental management:
• Environmental management systems (EMS)
• Environmental auditing and related investigations (EA&RI)
• Environmental labels and declaration (EL)
• Environmental performance evaluation (EPE)
• Life cycle assessment (LCA), and
• Terms and definitions (T&D)

A set of international standards ISO 14000 series – published by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) – provides a focus to the environment. These standards encourage a cleaner, safer and healthier environment for us all. With the implementation of these standards, organizations may focus on environmental efforts against internationally accepted norms. The ISO series of standards effectively address the needs of organizations worldwide by providing a common framework for managing environmental issues, they promise to effect a broadly based improvement in environmental management, which in turn can facilitate trade and improve environmental performance worldwide.

International Organization for Standardization (ISO) has published a document “Environmental Management – The ISO 14000 family of International Standards”. This document can be downloaded from the ISO website or obtained from the central secretariat of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO).

The ISO 14000 series of standards contains following standards –

• ISO 14001:2004 – Environmental management systems – Requirements with guidance for use
• ISO 14004:2004 – Environmental management systems – General guidelines on principles, systems and support techniques
• ISO/DIS 14005 – Environmental management systems – Guidelines for the phased implementation of an environmental management system, including the use of environmental performance evaluation
• ISO/DIS 14006 – Environmental management systems – Guidelines for incorporating eco-design
• ISO 14015:2001 – Environmental management – Environmental assessment of sites and organizations (EASO)
• ISO 14020:2000 – Environmental labels and declarations – General principles
• ISO 14021:1999 – Environmental labels and declarations – Self-declared environmental claims (Type II environmental labeling)
• ISO 14024:1999 – Environmental labels and declarations – Type I environmental labeling – Principles and procedures
• ISO 14025:2006 - Environmental labels and declarations – Type II environmental declarations – Principles and procedures
• ISO 14031: 1999 – Environmental management – Environmental performance evaluation – Guidelines
• ISO/AWI 14033 – Environmental management – Quantitative environmental information – Guidelines and examples
• ISO 14040:2006 – Environmental management – Life cycle assessment – Principles and framework
• ISO 14044:2006 – Environmental management – Life cycle assessment – Requirements and guidelines
• ISO/WD 14045 – Eco-efficiency assessment – Principles and requirements
• ISO/TR 14047:2003 – Environmental management – Life cycle impact assessment – Example of application of ISO 14042
• ISO/TS 14048:2002 – Environmental management – Life cycle assessment – Data documentation format
• ISOP/TR 14049:2000 – Environmental management – Life cycle assessment – Examples of application of ISO 14041 to goal and scope definition and inventory analysis
• ISO 14050: 2009 – Environmental management – Vocabulary
• ISO/DIS 14051 – Environmental management – Material flow cost accounting – General framework
• ISO/TR 14062:2002 – Environmental management – Integrating environmental aspect
• ISO 14063:2006 – Environmental management – Environmental communications – Guidelines and examples
• ISO 14064 – 1:2006 – Greenhouse gases – Part 1: Specifications with guidance at the organization level for quantification and reporting of greenhouse gas emissions and removals
• ISO 14064 – 2:2006 – Greenhouse gases – Part 2: Specifications with guidance at the project level for quantification , monitoring and reporting of greenhouse gas emission reductions or removal enhancements
• ISO 14064 – 3:2006 – Greenhouse gases – Part 3: Specifications with guidance for the validation and verification of greenhouse gas assertions
• ISO 14065:2007 – Greenhouse gases – Requirements for greenhouse gas validation and verification bodies for use in accreditation and other forms of recognition
• ISO/CD 14066 – Greenhouse gases – Competency requirements for greenhouse gas validators and verifiers document
• ISO/WD 14067 – 1 – Carbon footprint of products – Part 1 - Quantification
• ISO/WD 14067 – 2 – Carbon footprint of products – Part II - Communication
• ISO/AWI 14069 – GHG – Quantification and reporting of GHG emissions for organizations (Carbon footprint of organizations) – Guidance for application of ISO 14064 - 1
• ISO 19011:2002 – Guidelines for quality and / or environmental management systems auditing
• ISO Guide 64:2008 – Guide for addressing environmental issues in product standards
(Source – ISO Website)

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