All About ISO

Four of the most important items needed to obtain ISO 14001 Environmental Management System certification are:

• A driver (a reason for obtaining the certification)
• A commitment of financial and personnel resources
• An gap analysis (initial  audit) of your existing ISO 14001 EMS
• An Environmental Management System document.

A company that is considering pursuing ISO 14001 certification should initially determine what is driving their decision. Who cares if there’s a reason to obtain certification?....... The people paying the bills and keeping an eye on the facility’s bottom-line. As many of you know, ISO 14001 is not a regulatory driven standard. Adherence and certification to the standard is entirely voluntary. 

As with most voluntary programs, companies will choose or not choose to participate based on some driving force. With ISO 14001, since there is no regulatory driver then some other reason for obtaining ISO 14001 certification should exist. Some of the drivers for a facility to become ISO 14001 certified include:

• Corporate policy
• Peer pressure (all of the other divisions, subsidiaries, etc. have obtained ISO 14001 certification)
• Regulatory expectations
  • Anticipated benefits
  • Improved compliance
• Potential cost reductions
• Market forces
  • Customer requirements
  • Public relations pressures.