What is Environmental Management?

Elimination / reduction of adverse Impacts of various aspects on elements of environment which affect the stakeholders such as employees, customers, suppliers, shareholders, neighborhood.

What is Environmental Management System?

It is a sub-sect of over all management system that directs and controls an organization with regard to environment. Including meeting all statutory and regulatory requirements. Why should companies have Environmental Management System?

Increased National and International attention to environmental performance. Third party registration to these standards may become a condition on doing business in certain regions of the world Governments are increasingly demanding that companies adopt a systematic approach to environmental issues Increasing public pressure for increased environmental performance and information Implementing EMS may improve environmental performance Legal consequences and economic loss due to Environmental incidents/ Accidents Corporate responsibility Recognition of need to integrate EMS as part of the business and its Analogous to Quality Management.

What is ISO 14000?

Every company has some environmental impact in its operations. Companies seeking an internationally recognised environmental management system will find the answer in the ISO 14000 series of standards developed by the International Organisation for Standardisation. ISO 14000 supports environmental protection and prevention of pollution in balance with socio-economic needs. It provides businesses with a structure for managing environmental operations, and applies to all types and sizes of manufacturing and service operations throughout the world. ISO 14000 is considered to be more far-reaching than ISO 9000 in its application.ISO 14000, the environmental management system, was formally published by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) on September 2, 1996. ISO 14001 is the conformance standard within the ISO 14000 series. After extensive groundwork, the revised version of ISO 14001 was released on 15th of November 2004. ISO 14001:2004 has replaced ISO 14001:1996 after a transition period of 18 months which ended on 14th May 2006 It has become the basis for the certification procedure for environmental management. All ISO 14001:1996 certificates have been rendered invalid on 15th May 2006. The ISO 14000 series of standards has:

1. ISO 14001 - Requirements with guidance for use. (For certification)
2. ISO 14004 - General guidelines on principles, systems and support techniques
3. ISO 19011- Guidelines for quality and /or environmental management system auditing

Why ISO 14000?

To Achieve and Demonstrate:

Sound Environmental Performance by Controlling the Impacts of Activities, Products & Services on environment because of Stringent Legislation Development of Environmental Policies In addition to setting out the demands on environmental management systems, ISO 14001:2004 provides improved compatibility to ISO 9001. The ISO 14000 series covers a wide variety of environmental disciplines, ranging from the basic management system to auditing, labelling and product standards. All but one of the 15 standards in the series are guidance documents. Companies are certified to ISO 14001, the specification standard for an environmental management system.