The publication of a survey of the environmental management system standard ISO 14001 comes directly from ISO committee responsible for the International Standard (ISO/TC 207/SC 1).
It covers the future content for ISO 14001 and its current benefits, particularly relevant to meeting legal requirements and improving environmental performance.
Additionally, it supports a clearer focus on preventing pollution, eco-efficiency and life-cycle thinking should be provided in the next version of the standard.
The survey had 5,000 responses from organisations of various sizes in 110 countries – a majority has an environmental management system based on ISO 14001 – with 46 % from small and medium-sized companies.
The survey has provided a better idea of what people see as the main benefits of ISO 14001 and what could be improved during the current revision process.
Anne-Marie Warris, Chair of ISO/TC 207/SC 1 and a close colleague during my work on the BSI National Mirror Committee and at the United Kingdom Accreditation Service (UKAS) has said “The level of response was incredible. The detail of responses provides experts writing standards in this area with valuable input and real understanding”.
The survey will provide important and timely input into the revision process for the next version of ISO 14001, which is being targeted for final publication in June or July 2015.
A copy of the survey can be obtained from http://bit.ly/OC9kbW