As part of my ongoing commitment to increasing the communication and understanding of the new requirements of ISO 14001:2015, I developed and published an article in the September 2015 issue of the CIWM (Chartered Institution of Wastes Management) Journal under the title of “Fit For The Next Decade”.
The title for the article is based on the body of work executed by ISO (International Organization for Standardization) that has research and canvassed opinions from around the world to ensure that this version of ISO 14001 meets the needs for effective environmental management for businesses, now and for the next decade.
The article was written to outline the key changes for organisations to get on-board with environmental management systems & advice on the transition to ISO 14001:2015 certification.
It provides a clause-by-clause breakdown of the new requirements as well as a look to the future for organisations, who are keen to show leadership in the environmental arena by being early adopters of the new International Standard.
Indeed, the article has been well received by fellow environmental professionals & it was selected for the CIWM CPD (Continuing Professional Development) mark to highlight the relevance of environmental management to the CIWM membership as well as a signpost to the information for professional interviews for individuals seeking to become full members of the CIWM.
A copy of the article can be downloaded here
If you find the article useful or have any feedback on this post, please send comment.
Andrew, am a little concerned and it may be unwarranted but wish to enquire if what you have written is correct in its meaning, IAF and you suggest organisations “update the existing EMS to meet the revised requirements and provide verification of effectiveness”. As ISO 14001:2015 is aligned to ISO 9001:2015 by of commonised clauses as per Annex SL, it requires that as ISO 9001:2015 under “0.1 General” that ‘it is not the intent of this international standard….. that organizations copy the clauses of this standard not its terminology or vocabulary”.
So for organizations to determine the ‘effectiveness’ of a system – it comes through their processes and their transformation of inputs to produce an output and effectiveness by means of customer satisfaction as we know. That means like ISO 9001:2015, EMS’s have to be documented by their Processes (Aspects) to produce positive Impacts downstream. So as IAF and you too seem to suggest is contrary to the reality of these revised Standards. I is not about updating each clause, I suggest it is by overlaying the revised requirements (the clauses) onto and into the procedures and their respective processes (Documenting Information) to truly ‘update the existing EMS’.
Just wondering if I am misinterpreting these advisory notes from you and IAF? Thank you in anticipation for your response. Michael
Thank you for your comprehensive reply on the effectiveness issue.
It is clear that their are, at least two level of “effectiveness” being discussed here.
You present the clear effectiveness that must be present in an ISO 9001:2015 management system to meet the customer satisfaction.
The “effectiveness” action described in the IAF Informative Document is a recommended action, which organisations may wish to adopt & it is mentioned in relation to checking that the transition to ISO 9001:2015 / ISO 14001:2015 has been effective, something that I am sure, all of us, would want to check before whole-heartedly embracing ISO 9001:2015 or ISO 14001:2015.
I trust that my explanation clarifies the position given in the IAF Informative Documents.