Edition No. 12
Update: New ISO 14001 Standard Changes
The new ISO 14001:2004 standard, published in November 2004, includes no new major requirements but does elaborate on some existing requirements. Although most of the changes are not significant, they are worth reviewing since many affect existing ISO 14001 environmental management systems (EMS). Depending on how your organization’s original EMS was implemented, the impact of these new revisions should be minimal and much less painful than what happened with ISO 9001:2000.
This article summarizes some of the important changes, highlights the more significant ones, and provides other resources for follow-up.
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On the Horizon
ISO standards can be revised every five years; much of the 2004 revision was a result of wanting to more closely align ISO 14001 with ISO 9001:2000. Also, these clarifications were based on a consensus of auditors and implementers that there was too much room for interpretation in the current version.
The plan is for ISO 14001:1996 to transition to ISO 14001:2004 over an 18-month period. For the first six months, both standards can be used for certification and/or recertification to ISO14001. After the initial six months only the new ISO 14001:2004 can be used during certification and recertification audits. Even though all non-conformances against new standard criteria will be written as only observations until the end of the 18-month transition time, it is advisable to adopt the new standard as soon as possible.
What Changes
The biggest change in the new revision is its alignment with ISO 9001, making 14001 much easier to piggyback onto an existing 9001 program. For instance, the clause on Nonconformity, Corrective and Preventative Action has been completely rewritten and the clause on Internal Audit has been revised with additional requirements added. Many of the terms and definitions have been rewritten to eliminate confusion that may have resulted from comparing the standards.
Other significant additions are in the Monitoring and Measuring section, where the last paragraph is now a separate clause entitled Evaluation of Compliance. This clause provides specific records requirements and can be tied to the Nonconformity clause. In addition, the Evaluation of Compliance clause specifically relegates checking on compliance to an organization’s other requirements.
As mentioned above, one of the biggest changes is in section 4.5.3 (Nonconformity, Corrective Action and Preventive Action). Where the section was broad in the 1996 version, it has been rewritten and now directly aligns with ISO 9001:2000.
There is also a list of what could be called new requirements for inputs to management review, including results of internal audits and evaluations, the environmental performance of the organization, the extent to which objectives and targets have been met, and follow up actions from previous reviews. New requirements for outputs from the management review process are also included in this clause.
A new requirement that directly ties legal and other requirements to the organization’s environmental aspects is presented in the Legal and Other Requirements clause. This revision eliminates the direct reference to environmental requirements and highlights all requirements. It opens the door for relevant Health and Safety regulations applicable to an organization’s environmental aspects to be the scope of their ISO 14001 program. The new Evaluation of Compliance clause also drives the emphasis on other requirements in this revision.
What does this mean to you?
If possible, you should complete a gap assessment of your current environmental management system against the new ISO 14001:2004 standard. This can be completed using a guidance tool or checklist. Most organizations should expect to have some process and documentation gaps; those issues will need to be addressed. New or changed processes should be communicated to affected employees and contractors so they remain competent and aware. Organizations that are currently meeting the new ISO 14001 requirements but have not fully documented the activity will need to update processes and documents to reflect these changes. It is doubtful that an organization will need to develop new documents/processes to incorporate the new requirements of ISO 14001:2004. However, current processes will need to be amended, such as tying the legal and other requirements to the organization’s actual environmental aspects. Remember, it is not only a documentation update; all changes need to be communicated to affected personnel and implemented.
How EORM can help
EORM works with clients to develop and implement complete Environmental, Health, and Safety (EHS) Management Systems that conform to ISO 14001 and/or OHSAS 18001 standards and readily integrate with existing ISO 9001 Quality Management Systems (QMS).
For more information about the new ISO 14001:2004 regulations, please refer to the following web sites:
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