As the release of the new Version of ISO 14001 nears, impacted organizations should start preparing themselves for the important changes that will be required. As it has been 10 years since the current Version of ISO 14001:2004 was released, it is apparent that with new release of the second Committee Draft (CD2) will bring significant changes.
As mentioned in the past, development of the new version began in early 2012 and is expected to be officially released in January 2015.
As with any new version of a standard, organizations currently certified to ISO 14001:2004 will be granted a transition period to allow for upgrade to the new standard. Quality Resource Center will release a transition guideline to all certified clients after publication of the standard.
To help organizations become familiar with the proposed upcoming changes, some of the key changes have been identified below.
The Scope shall not exclude activities, products and services within the organization’s control or influence that can have significant environmental aspects (see 6.1.4).
Structural Changes
Key Changes in Requirements
- Scope
- Normative References
- Terms and Definitions
- Context of the Organization
- Leadership
- Planning
- Support
- Operation
- Performance Evaluation
- Improvement
Additional language will require –
- Determinations regarding how the organization will integrate its environmental management system requirements into its business processes.
- Requiring Top Management demonstrate leadership and commitment with respect to the environmental management system
- Organizations determine significant environmental aspects and organizational risks and opportunities by assuring the environmental management system can achieve its intended outcome(s), preventing, reducing, or eliminating undesired effects, satisfying its compliance obligations, and achieving continual improvement.
- Actions to address significant environmental aspects, compliance obligations and organizational risks and opportunities shall be managed within the environmental management system. This must include consideration of environmental objectives and planning to achieve them (6.2.2), operational planning and control (8.1), value chain control (8.2), emergency preparedness and response (8.3), and monitoring and measurement (9.1).
- Determinations regarding how the processes associated with its operation that are related to its significant environmental aspects and organizational risks and opportunities will be controlled or influenced, taking into account life cycle perspective.
That’s it for now….more when information becomes available.