The ISO 14000 Series of Standards

The ISO 14000 Series is a set of standards developed by the International Organization for Standardization relating to management of environmental issues and concerns. It consists of 7 major groups, each of which has a set of 14000 standards under it. These seven major groups and their corresponding standards are shown in Table 1.

Table 1. The 7 Major Groups of ISO 14000

Benefits of Having an Environmental Management System (EMS)

- It allows the organization to manage its environment systematically.

- It promotes health and safety and provides protection from environmental hazards.

- It establishes good public/community relations.

- It improves resource management and reduces wastes

- It minimizes environmental costs

Five Steps for ISO14000 Implementation

1)  Definition of the organization's environmental policy

2)  Planning of the organization's environmental activities to support the policy

3)  Implementation of the organization's environmental plans/programs

4)  Monitoring of the implementation of the environmental plans/programs and correction of non-conformances

5)  Management review of the organization's environmental policy and programs

Seven Steps for EMS (ISO 14001) Certification

1)  Enquiry

2)  Application

3)  Preliminary Visit

4)  Assessment

5)  Certification

6)  Surveillance

7)  Recertification (every 3 years)

See Also:  The ISO 9000 Standard;  The QS 9000 Standard;  The TS-16949 Standard;

Quality Systems;  Document Control