iso-14001 – Chasing Tales

EMS
An Environmental Management System (EMS) is a structured framework that helps organisations systematically identify, manage, control, and continuously improve their environmental impacts across all business activities, products, and services. It is a comprehensive set of policies, procedures, processes, and practices that work together to ensure environmental considerations are embedded into daily operations and long-term strategic planning.¹ ²

EMS’ follow the Plan-Do-Check-Act (PDCA) cycle, which is a four-step management methodology designed for continuous improvement of processes, products, and systems.³ It was originally developed by American engineer and business theorist William Edwards Deming, and is now used ubiquitously in quality management processes. The PDCA cycle is an iterative, continuous loop that involves the following processes:³ ⁴

Plan– The planning phase serves as the foundation of the entire cycle, focusing on identifying problems, analyzing current situations, and developing strategic solutions.
Do– The implementation phase involves executing the planned solution, typically on a small scale initially to test effectiveness without disrupting operations.
Check– The evaluation phase focuses on analysing results and comparing them against the objectives set in the Planning phase.
Act– This involves taking corrective action based on evaluation findings in the Check phase and standardizing successful changes.

This method basically establishes a repeatable, auditable improvement loop.

Essential elements of an EMS⁵ ⁶ ⁷

Environmental policy- a policy document (paper or digital) that has clear organisational policies should be accessible to employees, and other stakeholders. It must be endorsed by the company leadership. The company must make sure employees are AWARE that such a policy exists.
Compliance register- a document or database tracking every relevant regulation, its requirements, and the actions the company takes to ensure ongoing compliance.
Defined responsibilities- roles for EMS-related activities should be clearly assigned.
Baseline- improvements can only be measured against a baseline, so these should be established clearly for each KPI.
Staff training and communication- staff must know their duties and understand why EMS is important to the organisation. It is also useful to know how to communicate these activities to external stakeholders.
Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs)- SOPs that set out each step of each activity must be available to every employee involved in anything risky, such as dealing with chemical or medical waste disposal.
Environmental aspects- these are the organisation’s activities, products, or services that can interact with the environment.
Environmental impacts- positive or negative changes to the environment due to the organisation’s environmental aspects.

ISO 14001⁸ ⁹ ¹⁰
ISO 14001 is the world’s most widely used international standard that specifies the requirements for an effective EMS. It provides a repeatable framework organizations can follow to design, implement, maintain, and continually improve their EMS, rather than prescribing specific environmental performance thresholds. Organizations can implement ISO 14001 voluntarily and may optionally pursue third-party certification to demonstrate conformity. ISO 14001 is designed to integrate with other management standards (e.g., ISO 9001 quality, ISO 45001 safety) and aligns with PDCA for continuous improvement. Please understand, CERTIFICATION VERIFIES THE SYSTEMS AND PROCESSES THE ORGANISATION IS IMPLEMENTING, NOT THE OUTCOME: that is, ISO 14001 clause 6.1 simply states that any EMS should:

“Give assurance that the environmental management system can achieve its intended outcomes;
Prevent or reduce undesired effects, including the potential for external environmental conditions to affect the organisation; and
Achieve continual improvement.”

Organisational context¹¹ ¹²
According to clause 4 of ISO 14001:2015, organisations are required to identify issues, trends, and conditions both inside and outside the business that impact environmental performance, risk, and opportunities, sort of like a very specialised PESTEL analysis. This means they must consider not only direct environmental impacts caused by them, but also how environmental conditions might affect operations, stakeholders, and their own compliance obligations.

There are three types of organisational contexts:

Internal context- Organisational policies, values, resources, processes, products or services, strategic goals, and how company culture or capabilities affect environmental responsibility.
External context- Legal, regulatory, political, economic, social, and technological factors as well as broader environmental conditions or requirements from stakeholders like customers, regulators, and communities.
Environmental context- Specific environmental conditions such as climate, resource availability, and pollution levels that can impact or be impacted by the organisation.

EMS and ISO 14001⁷
ISO 14001 defines the requirements for an EMS. It sets out the clauses and controls policy, planning, operations, evaluation, and improvement that an EMS must include. Organizations use it to structure their EMS consistently and audibly. A functioning EMS can be audited for conformity to ISO 14001. Passing an external audit earns ISO 14001 certification, which signals to stakeholders that the EMS meets international best-practice requirements. However, certification verifies the system; it does not by itself guarantee a particular environmental performance level.

To reiterate, “EMS” is the management system itself, and “ISO 14001” is the standard describing what that system should look like and how it should operate. An EMS can exist without ISO 14001, but aligning to ISO 14001 can improve structure, consistency, credibility, and auditability and allows optional certification.

Examples of ISO 14001 EMS KPIs

KPI Type	Example of Metrics	Description
Resource Consumption	Electricity (kWh), water (liters), gas (cubic meters) usage	Track reductions against baseline, efficiency programs
Emissions	Greenhouse gas (CO₂) emissions per unit output, pollutant PPM	Measure total carbon footprint, regulatory pollutant thresholds
Waste Management	Total waste to landfill (kg), recycled/reused waste (%)	Monitor reductions, recycling effectiveness
Compliance	Environmental incidents reported, time lost due to incidents	Track regulatory breaches, response times, corrective actions
Water Use	Water consumption per production unit	Benchmark efficiency, target reductions
Energy Mix	Share of renewable energy in total energy consumption (%)	Support sustainability and decarbonization targets
Paper Reduction	Total paper use (reams/year)	Track efficiency, digitalization efforts
Supply Chain Sustainability	% suppliers with environmental certification	Extend EMS upstream/downstream
Biodiversity Impact	Conservation measures adopted, protected hectares	Especially relevant for agriculture, mining, real estate sectors
Compliance Performance	Environmental incident frequency	Number of non-compliance reports annually
System Effectiveness	Internal audit scores and notes	How many internal audits have happened, internal audit results, non-conformities identified and closed

Aligning organisational KPIs with ISO 14001 can be challenging, so here are some helpful steps:⁸

Define environmental objectives based on environmental issues relevant to your organisation, relevant compliance obligations, and stakeholder expectations.
Select KPIs that are directly linked to each objective and ensure they are specific, measurable, and capable of showing progress toward the stated goals. For example, if an objective is to reduce waste, a KPI could be “percentage reduction in paper waste per year”.
Each KPI should be cleary measurable (e.g., total energy use per production unit, percentage of objectives met, reduction in incidents), so that they can be compared over time to be able to demonstrate improvement (or find slidebacks).
Assign responsibility for tracking each KPI to relevant team members, and make sure they are integrated into operational processes and reviewed at planned intervals (e.g., monthly, quarterly) to support the PDCA (Plan-Do-Check-Act) cycle. These jobs should be part of their expected activities, not extra work they have to do in addition to their regular workload.
Document the rationale for selecting each KPI, how they link to objectives, and keep written records of all measurements and analyses for audit preparation.

Audit Plans/ Checklists⁸
Audits can be stressful, but the ISO 14001 auditors are trained to help the people they are auditing feel at ease. Here are some points you could keep in mind while preparing for your audit:

During audits, objective evidence is crucial. Keep track of and present historical KPI data, trend analyses, supporting documents (e.g., invoices, meter readings, waste logs), internal communications, and management review meeting minutes showing the use of KPI data in decision-making.
Auditors typically look for consistency in KPI definitions, data collection methods, frequency of reviews, and whether the results inform corrective actions or continual improvement efforts.
Records of corrective or preventive actions taken in response to KPI underperformance are important audit evidence and demonstrate robust EMS systems.
Make use of dashboards, summaries, and visualisations to easily communicate KPI performance, trends, and progress toward objectives during audits.
ALWAYS HAVE OBJECTIVE EVIDENCE. Seriously.

ISO 14001:2025¹³ ¹⁴
The ISO 14001 standard is due for a revision which is expected to be published around autumn 2025, with a 12-18 month transition period. Here are some expected changes from ISO 14001:2015:

Area	ISO 14001:2015	ISO 14001:2025 Draft
Document Structure	Based on High-Level Structure (HLS)	Switches to Harmonized Structure for better integration with other ISO standards
Climate Action	Addresses sustainability broadly	Stronger focus on climate-related actions, carbon neutrality, and decarbonization
Risk Management	General approach to risks and opportunities	Enhanced guidance on proactive risk identification and lifecycle perspectives
Technology Integration	No explicit mention of digital tools	Encourages leveraging data analytics and AI for real-time monitoring
Supply Chain Focus	Basic requirements	Expanded emphasis on supply chain sustainability evaluation

So, why bother with an EMS?
While setting up an EMS does require some initial investment, the ongoing savings, risk reduction, and improved market opportunities, a functional EMS can help businesses become more profitable in several ways. By making better use of resources, such as reducing energy, water, and raw material consumption, companies can lower their operating costs. For example, switching to energy-efficient lighting or upgrading insulation often leads directly to smaller utility bills.

An EMS also helps businesses identify areas where they can cut down on waste, which not only saves money on disposal fees but can also uncover new opportunities to recycle or reuse materials, sometimes even generating additional income streams (such as through the ubiquitous kabadiwalas). By staying on top of environmental regulations and anticipating changes, companies can avoid costly fines and disruptions, making their business more stable in the long run.

Finally, implementing an EMS can improve a company’s reputation with customers, investors, and the public, often leading to new sales opportunities, increased customer loyalty, and even access to investment or partnerships that prioritize sustainability.

Sources

Tag: iso-14001

Environmental Management Systems and ISO 14001

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