BS EN ISO 14001:2004 free download.Environmental management systems — Requirements with guidance for use.
Organizations of all kinds are increasingly concerned with achieving and demonstrating sound environmental performance by controlling the impacts of their activities, products and services on the environment, consistent with their environmental policy and objectives. They do so in the context of increasingly stringent legislation, the development of economic policies and other measures that foster environmental protection, and increased concern expressed by interested parties about environmental matters and sustainable development.
Many organizations have undertaken environmental “reviews” or “audits” to assess their environmental performance. On their own, however, these “reviews” and “audits” may not be sufficient to provide an organization with the assurance that its performance not only meets, but will continue to meet, its legal and policy requirements. To be effective, they need to be conducted within a structured management system that is integrated within the organization.
International Standards covering environmental management are intended to provide organizations with the elements of an effective environmental management system (EMS) that can be integrated with other management requirements and help organizations achieve environmental and economic goals. These standards, like other International Standards, are not intended to be used to create non-tariff trade barriers or to increase or change an organization’s legal obligations.
This International Standard specifies requirements for an environmental management system to enable an organization to develop and implement a policy and objectives which take into account legal requirements and information about significant environmental aspects. It is intended to apply to all types and sizes of organization and to accommodate diverse geographical, cultural and social conditions. The basis of the approach is shown in Figure 1. The success of the system depends on commitment from all levels and functions of the organization, and especially from top management. A system of this kind enables an organization to develop an environmental policy, establish objectives and processes to achieve the policy commitments, take action as needed to improve its performance and demonstrate the conformity of the system to the requirements of this International Standard. The overall aim of this International Standard is to support environmental protection and prevention of pollution in balance with socio-economic needs. It should be noted that many of the requirements can be addressed concurrently or revisited at any time.
The second edition of this International Standard is focused on clarification of the first edition, and has taken due consideration of the provisions of ISO 9001 to enhance the compatibility of the two standards for the benefit of the user community.
For ease of use, the subclause numbers in Clause 4 of the body of this International Standard and in Annex A have been related. For example, 4.3.3 and A.3.3 both deal with objectives, targets and programme(s), and 4.5.5 and A.5.5 both deal with internal audit. In addition, Annex B identifies broad technical correspondences between ISO 14001:2004 and ISO 9001:2000 and vice versa.
There is an important distinction between this International Standard, which describes the requirements for an organization’s environmental management system and can be used for certification/registration and/or self- declaration of an organization’s environmental management system, and a non-certifiable guideline intended to provide generic assistance to an organization for establishing, implementing or improving an environmental management system. Environmental management encompasses a full range of issues, including those with strategic and competitive implications. Demonstration of successful implementation of this International Standard can be used by an organization to assure interested parties that an appropriate environmental management system is in place.
Guidance on supporting environmental management techniques is contained in other International Standards, particularly those on environmental management in the documents established by ISO/TC 207. Any reference to other International Standards is for information only.
This International Standard contains only those requirements that can be objectively audited. Those organizations requiring more general guidance on a broad range of environmental management system issues are referred to ISO 14004.
This International Standard does not establish absolute requirements for environmental performance beyond the commitments, in the environmental policy, to comply with applicable legal requirements and with other requirements to which the organization subscribes, to prevention of pollution and to continual improvement. Thus, two organizations carrying out similar operations but having different environmental performance can both conform to its requirements.BS EN ISO 14001:2004 pdf free download.