Every business, whether online or offline, engages with the environment to some extent. In light of evolving customer demands, regulatory frameworks, and additional intricacies, modern businesses are placing a greater emphasis on proactively managing their ecological footprint. This is the point at which following an internationally accepted compliance standard that describes the best ways companies can lessen their environmental impact becomes necessary.
In response to the escalations regarding environmental concerns, ISO 14001, the world’s most popular environmental management system (EMS) standard, was introduced in 2015. As a vital part of the organizational strategy, it helps entities manage their ecological responsibilities appropriately. ISO 14001, when combined with a robust environment management system, assists companies in striking the right balance between environmental sustainability and business success.
You may be wondering at this point what an environment management system is. An EMS enables a company to alter processes and policies to improve environmental performance, avoid pollution, manage resources ethically, and comply with the law. The ISO 14001 standard offers instructions for setting up, maintaining, and enhancing an EMS. If you are evaluating the need for complying with ISO 14001, we are sure you have many more questions. This is why we at Akitra have curated this blog, especially for you.
This article will answer five of the most frequently asked questions about ISO 14001 compliance standards. But first, let’s understand what the ISO 14001 standard does.
What is ISO 14001 Compliance?
Implementing an environmental management system (EMS) to the requirements of ISO 14001:2015 can help a business enhance environmental performance. An organization may easily manage its environmental responsibilities in a way that promotes the environmental pillar of sustainability following this framework’s guidelines.
ISO 14001:2015 makes it easier to achieve the intended goals of the environmental management system, which benefits the environment, the company, and interested parties. According to the organization’s environmental policy, the following outcomes are expected from an environmental management system:
- enhancing the environment’s performance;
- fulfilling the standards for compliance; and,
- reaching environmental objectives like protecting animals, cutting carbon impact, etc.
Now, let’s dive into the five most frequently-asked questions about ISO 14001 compliance.
Five Most Frequently-Asked Questions about ISO 14001 Compliance
Here are the five most important questions about ISO 14001 compliance that you should know the answers to:
- What are the Primary and Secondary Elements of an EMS Framework?
Here are the primary elements of an EMS framework:
- Creating an Environmental Policy: An environmental policy demonstrates an organization’s dedication to ecological preservation. This is why it is a primary element of any EMS framework, and you need to establish one before even considering complying with any ISO 14001 guidelines.
- Assessing Environmental Factors and Effects: Each business needs to know the environmental elements impacting its operations. Organizations can foster an up-to-date, all-encompassing environmental perspective through consistently and systematically revising these elements.
- Compliance with Legal Mandates: Organizations must stay within the bounds of the law, adhere to local, national, and international environmental regulations, and continue their committed ecological activities.
Secondary elements are based on the strong foundation of primary elements, help with operational refinement, and allow an organization’s complex machinery to work harmoniously with its environmental objectives. Here are the directives:
- Creating Environmental Goals and Related Initiatives: Referencing earlier discussions, these components are the impetuses driving an organization’s environmental progress.
- Setting up Operational Controls: This helps adhere rigorously to ISO 14001’s objectives by emphasizing developing thorough systems to manage, monitor, and control important environmental policy issues.
The strategic approach to an organization’s environmental responsibility combines primary and secondary aspects. Achieving operational efficiency and promoting sustainable ecological conservation are made possible by meticulously identifying important environmental concerns, putting controls in place, and constantly improving. Organizations can fully embody the text and spirit of ISO 14001 by harmonizing these components.
- Who Should Get ISO 14001 Certified?
Businesses and organizations of all sizes can greatly benefit from obtaining ISO 14001 accreditation. They can start the ISO 14001 certification procedure to show they are committed to sustainability or cut expenses by using resources more effectively. The building, automotive, electronic and telecommunications, and engineering sectors are a few that could profit from ISO 14001 environmental management systems.
- What is the Intent of the Phrase Enhance Environmental Performance?
The main goal of this phrase is to lessen the organization’s negative environmental effects (such as emissions, waste, effluents, and resource consumption) or to increase its positive impact (such as recycling and reusing byproducts, conserving land, etc.). According to ISO 14031, this idea is known as “operational performance.
To strengthen the environmental management system by the ISO 14001 revision mandate, ISO/TC 207/SC 1/WG 5 intended to stay aligned with Annex SL and ISO 14031 ideas. However, in a few specific phrases, they wished to highlight the importance of increasing operational performance. The term “enhance environmental performance” was used in the clauses where WG5 emphasized the relevance of operational efficiency.
- What Does the Scope of the EMS Include?
Scope refers to the organizational activities, products, and services that fall under the purview of ISO 14001 and the organization’s physical limits and functions. When creating scope statements, it is customary to consider the factors listed in the bullet points.
The 2015 edition of ISO 14001 validated and maintained the long-standing consensus that permits organizations to phase in EMS implementation, as stated by ISO/TC 207/SC 1/WG 5. It was included to promote transparency and prevent misunderstandings in response to the fear that some might intentionally cherry-pick activities, products, and services to exclude those with major environmental implications.
No activity, product, or service within the declared scope may be excluded after establishing the EMS’s limits and scope. Although an organization can choose the parameters of its scope, compliance with ISO 14001:2015 should be predicated on a strong, reputable, and trustworthy EMS. In keeping with the spirit of ISO 14001:2004, 4.1, which states that the organization shall…determine how it will fulfill these requirements, ISO 14001:2015 upholds the idea that the organization has the freedom to choose how it will meet its EMS obligations.
- How Much Does ISO 14001 Compliance Cost?
The cost of ISO 14001 compliance depends on multiple factors, including the length of the audit, the size of your company, and the third-party certification organization you select. The sooner you can attain compliance, the better, as a certification organization will usually charge a specific amount for each day the audit takes to complete. You will be responsible for paying a certification body in addition to costs associated with copies of the standard and any activities required to put its requirements into practice.
ISO 14001 Compliance Readiness with Akitra!
Establishing trust is a crucial competitive differentiator when courting new SaaS businesses in today’s era of data breaches and compromised privacy. Customers and partners want assurances that their organizations are doing everything possible to prevent disclosing sensitive data and putting them at risk, and compliance certification fills that need.
Akitra offers an industry-leading, AI-powered Compliance Automation platform for SaaS companies. Using automated evidence collection and continuous monitoring, together with a full suite of customizable policies and controls as a compliance foundation, our compliance automation platform and services help our customers become compliance-ready for ISO 14001 and other security standards, such as SOC 1, SOC 2, HIPAA, GDPR, PCI DSS, ISO 27001, ISO 27701, ISO 27017, ISO 27018, ISO 9001, ISO 13485, NIST CSF, NIST 800-53, NIST 800-171, FedRAMP, CCPA, CMMC, SOX ITGC, and more such as CIS AWS Foundations Benchmark, Australian ISM and Essential Eight, etc. In addition, companies can use Akitra’s Risk Management product for overall risk management using quantitative methodologies such as Factorial Analysis of Information Risks (FAIR) and qualitative methods, including NIST-based for your company, Vulnerability Assessment and Pen Testing services, Trust Center, and AI-based Automated Questionnaire Response product to streamline and expedite security questionnaire response processes, delivering huge cost savings. Our compliance and security experts will provide customized guidance to navigate the end-to-end compliance process confidently. Akitra Academy provides easy-to-learn short video courses on security, compliance, and related topics of immense significance for today’s fast-growing companies.
The benefits of our solution include enormous savings in time, human resources, and cost savings, including discounted audit fees with our audit firm partners. Customers achieve compliance certification fast and cost-effectively, stay continuously compliant as they grow, and can become certified under additional frameworks using a single compliance automation platform.
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