One of the ways businesses gain an advantage over their competitors is by staying on top of new standards — particularly when it comes to environmental management. Early adopters are able to capitalize on market opportunities — simply because they can use resources more efficiently, eliminate unnecessary waste, and earn the trust of their suppliers and customers. It should come as no surprise, then, that the number of ISO 14001 certifications has grown by 70% since 2004. Today’s post covers what you need to know about the new ISO 14001:2015 revision. We also cover its benefits to your company and how to get started.
First, a snapshot of ISO 14001:2015:
ISO 14001 is an international standard that outlines requirements for an environmental management system. The new ISO 14001:2015 revision offers a framework that encourages businesses to put sustainability at the center of what you do.
Key improvements include:
- Conforming to the Plan > Do > Check > Act structure implemented across other ISO standards
- Ensuring that environmental issues were addressed in strategic planning
- Considering the entire lifecycle of a product
- Communicating transparently with suppliers and customers
- Increasing the focus on sustainability
- Making leadership accountable for environmental initiatives
- Moving from paper to digital documentation
Why was the ISO 14001 standard revised?
Every 5 years, the ISO standards undergo a review to determine if they need any changes. ISO decided to revise the 14001 standard in response to growing challenges and legal requirements aroundsustainable resource use and climate change mitigation. The structure of the standard now fits with the structure of other management system standards like ISO 9001.
What are the benefits of the revised ISO 14001:2015 standard?
While we’ve noticed every one of these benefits in our interactions with clients, we didn’t rely on our own observations for this post. Instead, we listened in on what businesses are saying about it.
Users of ISO 14001:2015 say that the new standard:
- Positions you as an industry leader
- Reduces your environmental impact
- Helps you gain sustainability credentials
- Builds trust with customers by communicating your environmental efforts
- Motivates employees by showing that they’re working towards a better, more environmentally friendly future
- Encourage suppliers to improve their environmental performance, too
- Boosts your bottom line by reducing insurance rates, eliminating waste, and bumping stock performance
- Makes compliance with contract and regulatory requirements easier
While the benefits of ISO 14001 certification are obvious, you may be overwhelmed wondering how to actually get started.
How to get started with ISO 14001:2015?
ISO 14001 is a framework, not a rule book, so you’ll have lots of options in how you decide to implement it.
On the flip side, there are no set rules to adopt or checklist to follow.
That’s where an Environmental Management Information System (EMIS) comes in. An EMIS can help you automate day-to-day tracking tasks and save you time as you transition to the new standard:
- Automated audits and inspections: You can set up any set of questions to ensure efficient capture of the right information.
- Intuitive mobile apps: Involve more employees at all levels and capture information accurately, even in remote locations
- Automated notifications: Inform need-to-know staff for timely action to mitigate risk
- Numeric scoring of assessment elements: Get quantitative metrics to compare and measure across your enterprise
- Integrated corrective and preventative actions: Reduce future risk
- Dynamic dashboard analytics: Provide management transparency of key metrics
Want to learn more about the new ISO 14001:2015 revision?
And don’t forget to download our free ISO 14001 implementation checklist by filling out the form below:
FAQs
The new ISO 14001:2015 revision offers a framework that encourages businesses to put sustainability at the center of what you do. Key improvements include: Conforming to the Plan > Do > Check > Act structure implemented across other ISO standards. Ensuring that environmental issues were addressed in strategic planning.
What is the ISO 14001 revision in 2015? ›
ISO 14001:2015 responds to the latest trends, such as an increasing recognition by companies of the need to factor in both external and internal elements that influence their impact, including climate volatility. Other key improvements in the new version include: A greater commitment from leadership.
What are the improvements of the ISO 14001 2015 from its former version? ›
The new version of ISO 14001 is aligned with Annex SL, which makes it more compatible with other management systems standards like ISO 9001, ISO 22301, ISO 27001, and ISO 20000, and makes the integration even easier. See also How to integrate ISO 14001 and ISO 9001.
What are the new requirements of the ISO 14001 2015 standard? ›
However, the biggest change to ISO 14001 (2015) are the new requirements for leadership engagement, interactions with third parties, the necessity for risk-management, pollution prevention, increased 'essential documentation', and increased accountability when it comes to the company's environmental impact.
What are the two previous editions of ISO 14001 2015? ›
ISO 14001 standard
| Year | Edition |
|---|
| 1996 | 1st Edition |
| 2004 | 2nd Edition |
| 2015 | 3rd Edition |
Consistent with the organization's environmental policy, the intended outcomes of an environmental management system include: — enhancement of environmental performance; — fulfilment of compliance obligations; — achievement of environmental objectives.
What does ISO 14001 2015 deal with? ›
ISO 14001 is an internationally agreed standard that sets out the requirements for an environmental management system. It helps organizations improve their environmental performance through more efficient use of resources and reduction of waste, gaining a competitive advantage and the trust of stakeholders.
What is the ISO 14001:2015 Amendment 2024? ›
In Q1 2024, ISO's technical committee on environmental managements systems (ISO/TC 207) released an amendment to the ISO 14001:2015 standard. “Amendment 1” adds element of climate change to clauses 4.1 and 4.2 as a requirement to consider to context of the organization as it relates to climate change.
What is the primary difference between ISO 14001:2015 and ISO 14001-2004? ›
ISO 14001: 2004 VS. ISO 14001:2015. To begin with, the 2015 version has ten clauses, whereas the 2004 one has four. As a result, both ISO 14001:2015 and 9001 :2015 respectively environmental and quality management systems (QMS) follow the same structure.
What are the challenges of ISO 14001 2015? ›
The 5 Most Common Challenges Of Obtaining ISO 14001 certification
- Shortage of Qualified Personnel.
- Lack of Motivation.
- Lack of Financial Capability.
- Lack of Clarity in Environmental Targets.
- Insufficient Understanding of Regulations and Legislation.
Overview of the ISO 14001:2015 Requirements
- Section 0: Introduction. ...
- Section 1: Scope. ...
- Section 2: Normative References. ...
- Section 3: Terms and Definitions. ...
- Section 4: Context of the Organization. ...
- Section 5: Leadership. ...
- Section 6: Planning. ...
- Section 7: Support.
ISO decided to revise the 14001 standard in response to growing challenges and legal requirements around sustainable resource use and climate change mitigation. The structure of the standard now fits with the structure of other management system standards like ISO 9001.
Is ISO 14001 still valid? ›
ISO 14001:2015 Environmental management systems — Requirements with guidance for use. This publication was last reviewed and confirmed in 2021. Therefore this version remains current.
What is the difference between ISO 9001 2015 and ISO 14001 2015? ›
ISO 9001 has requirements specific to the issue of quality management, whereas ISO 14001 has requirements specific to the issue of environmental management. At the same time, there are similarities between the two standards. This is due to both being ISO-MSS and so both following the HLS.
What is the main objective of ISO 14001 2015? ›
ISO 14001 is an internationally agreed standard that sets out the requirements for an environmental management system. It helps organizations improve their environmental performance through more efficient use of resources and reduction of waste, gaining a competitive advantage and the trust of stakeholders.
In which year did the current revision of ISO 14001 get published? ›
History of ISO 14000
ISO 14001 underwent revision in 2004. The current revision of ISO 14001 was published in September 2015.
What is the ISO 14001 2015 plan? ›
ISO 14001:2015 Clause 6 Planning ensures the organization has the building blocks in place to determine that the EMS can achieve its intended outcome(s) through inclusion of specific requirements around risk identification and analysis.
What is the primary difference between ISO 14001 2015 and ISO 14001 2004? ›
ISO 14001: 2004 VS. ISO 14001:2015. To begin with, the 2015 version has ten clauses, whereas the 2004 one has four. As a result, both ISO 14001:2015 and 9001 :2015 respectively environmental and quality management systems (QMS) follow the same structure.
When was ISO 14001 revised? ›
The ISO 14001:2015 revision mandate (dated 2012-01-23) stipulated the following: The revision shall be based on the ISO approved requirements and application guidance related to the High Level Structure (HLS) for Management System Standards (MSS) and its identical text, common terms and core definitions.
