What Is ISO 14001? A Plain Guide to Environmental Management
ISO 14001 is the international standard for environmental management systems. It helps an organisation control its environmental impacts, meet legal obligations and improve performance.
Key points
- ISO 14001 applies to any organisation, whatever its size or sector.
- It is built around environmental aspects and impacts, compliance obligations and measurable objectives.
- Organisations certified to ISO 14001:2015 need to plan their move to the 2026 edition.
What the standard is for
ISO 14001 sets out the requirements for a system to manage an organisation’s interaction with the environment: the resources it uses, the emissions and waste it produces, and the risks of pollution. It does not set performance levels; the organisation sets its own objectives in line with its legal obligations and its policy.
Key requirements
- Understand the context and the needs of interested parties
- Identify environmental aspects and decide which are significant, taking a life-cycle perspective
- Determine compliance obligations and evaluate compliance
- Set objectives and plan how to achieve them
- Control operations and prepare for emergencies
- Monitor, audit and review performance, and improve
Benefits
- Lower energy, water and waste costs
- Evidence of legal compliance
- Meeting customer and tender requirements
- Fewer incidents and a clearer response when they happen
Steps to certification
Carry out an initial environmental review and a legal register, define the scope, and build the system around your real operations. Operate it for long enough to have monitoring data, an internal audit and a management review before the certification audit. ISO 14001 shares its structure with ISO 9001 and ISO 45001, so the three can be run as one integrated system.