What Certification to ISO 14001 Means

According to the International Accreditation Forum (IAF) and the International Organization for Standardisation (ISO), the accredited certification process is expected to ensure that the organisation has an environmental management system, suitable for the nature of its activities, products and services, that conforms to the requirements of ISO 14001, and in particular can demonstrate for the defined scope that the organisation:

1. has defined an environmental policy appropriate to the nature, scale and environmental impacts of its activities, products and services
2. has identified the environmental aspects of its activities, products and services that it can control and /or influence and determined those that can have a significant environmental impact (including those related to suppliers / contractors).
3. has procedures in place to identify applicable environmental legislation and other relevant requirements, to determine how these apply to its environmental aspects and to keep this information up to date.
4. has implemented effective controls in order to meet its commitment to comply with applicable legal and other requirements.
5. has defined environmental objectives and targets that are measurable, where practicable, taking into account legal requirements and significant environmental aspects, and has programs in place to achieve these objectives and targets
6. ensures that people working for or on behalf of the organization are aware of the requirements of its environmental management system and are competent to perform tasks that have the potential to cause significant environmental impacts
7. has implemented procedures for communicating internally, as well as responding to and communicating (as necessary) with interested external parties
8. ensures that those operations associated with significant environmental aspects are carried out under specified conditions and monitors and controls the key characteristics of its operations that can have a significant environmental impact
9. has established and (where practicable) tested procedures to address and respond to emergencies that can have an effect on the environment
10. periodically evaluates its compliance with applicable legal and other requirements
11. aims to prevent non-conformities, and has procedures in place to correct any non-conformities that do occur and analyse the cause of any such non-conformities and take corrective action to avoid their recurrence
12. has implemented effective internal audit and management review procedures.