ISO 14000

ISO 14001:2015 Environmental Management Standard

1. Development History of the ISO 14000 Standards

• ISO 14001:1996: The first release of the international environmental management system standard.
• ISO 14001:2004: The second edition.
• ISO 14001:2015: The third and most recent edition.

Issued by: International Organization for Standardization (ISO).

2. Scope of Application

This is a general management system standard, applicable across all industries, sectors, and organization sizes.

3. Current ISO 14000 Standard Family

The ISO 14000 Environmental Management System (EMS) standards include:

• ISO 14001:2015 – Environmental management systems – Requirements with guidance for use
• ISO 14004:2016 – Environmental management systems – General guidelines on implementation
• ISO 14005:2019 – Environmental management systems – Guidelines for a flexible approach to phased implementation

Other related standards include the ISO 50000 series on energy management.
Note: All ISO standard families typically consist of several documents. The standard ending in “1” usually specifies requirements and provides fundamental implementation guidance.

4. Purpose of ISO 14000 Standards

• ISO 14001:2015 provides a framework for organizations to protect the environment and respond to environmental changes while balancing socio-economic needs.
• The standard sets out requirements to help organizations achieve intended outcomes of their EMS.
• A systematic environmental management approach gives senior leadership the information needed to build a successful EMS and contribute to the sustainability of both the business and the wider community.

5. Benefits of Implementing ISO 14000

• Environmental protection by preventing or mitigating adverse impacts.
• Reduced environmental risks to the organization.
• Support for regulatory compliance, such as legal and customer environmental requirements.
• Improved environmental performance across business activities.
• Control over the product/service life cycle to minimize environmental impact at all stages (raw materials, production, logistics, use, disposal).
• Operational and financial benefits through better efficiency.
• Enhanced market reputation and competitiveness.
• Stronger global brand recognition.
• Effective communication of environmental matters to relevant stakeholders.

6. Management Approach in ISO 14001:2015

While ISO 14001:2015 shares many features with the 2004 version, the 2015 update includes key enhancements to align better with other standards such as ISO 9001:2015 and ISO 45001:2018:

• Stronger leadership commitment.
• Greater focus on risk management.
• Emphasis on measurable environmental objectives.
• Promotes environmental protection and continual improvement.
• Enhanced communication strategies.
• Life cycle thinking – considering each stage of a product/service from development to end-of-life.

7. Clause Structure of ISO 14001:2015

Like ISO 9001:2015 and ISO 45001:2018, ISO 14001:2015 consists of 10 clauses. Clauses 1 to 3 are introductory, while clauses 4 to 10 detail mandatory requirements:

1. Scope
2. Normative references
3. Terms and definitions
4. Context of the organization
5. Leadership
6. Planning
7. Support
8. Operation
9. Performance evaluation
10. Improvement

The harmonized structure of modern ISO standards supports the integration of management systems and provides organizations with a unified, international-level management framework.

(Source: ISO.org
Authors: Phuong Chau & Khanh Tuyen)