Integration of ISO 9001 and ISO 14001
Is it easy to integrate these two standards? Once you start the process of implementing a quality management system in your organization, you are looking for ways to improve your business. With environmental excellence, the current focus of many organizations seems to be on obtaining ISO 14001 certification , which is a secondary certification that is added to your collection.
Adding the second standard (ISO 14001) requires special planning to address the environmental impact of your company and how to address these processes and systems in your business. Adhering to ISO standards ensures that you meet the standards of your customers, communities and other stakeholders, and that you can work with government agencies that may have more difficult conditions.
Integrated Management Systems (IMS) are useful to help companies increase focus and reduce business risk. They distinguish between each type of system (in this example, the Quality Management System [QMS] and the Environmental Management System [EMS]).
Companies will be required to draft policy statements and objectives, define organizational charts and job descriptions, provide resources for their team, manage and control documentation, and appoint management representatives and coordinators, all specific to each system. Management is separate. Fortunately, the basis of ISO management is built for easy integration.
With a high-level structure, you can use what you have already created and focus on your surroundings, as well as several new processes and methods to put yourself on the path to ISO certification. In addition, by following the same path, your team understands the task of the development process and its role in maintaining and ultimately the success of the program.
Use what you have and increase your focus on standards
Many of the processes required to achieve ISO14001 certification will already be considered as part of your Quality Management System (QMS). You need to create and communicate your policies and goals, provide training for your team, set your own documentation and follow-up process, follow up on root causes and corrective action processes to correct deficiencies, conduct internal audits. And maintain a consistent pattern through management meetings.
In order to follow 14001, you need to examine and focus your system components to meet your environmental impact goals. For example, you should specifically define the training you provide for your team to teach them about your new policies and practices, but the training methods and documentation will remain the same.
Add specific environmental processes
Although you use your existing system to drive the majority of your work, ISO 14001 requires you to add new processes when creating your environmental management system. Important tips start with four key elements:
1- Environmental policy
Examine your existing QMS policy and use it as a template to create your environmental policy. Make sure you have all the goals and procedures needed to help implement and maintain the standard properly.
2- Legal requirements
In your organization, determine what legal requirements and government regulations apply to your business. Record how you use EMS to enforce enforceable policies for yourself, how you maintain compliance when rules change, and how your company’s growth affects the guidelines you follow. Lays. Understanding these factors is essential to identifying the environmental aspects of your company.
3- Environmental aspects
Environmental aspects refer to all the ways in which your company interacts with its environment. An important step in the aspect recognition process is to determine the intensity of each aspect. This will help to include definitions that are important enough in your system. You do not have to pay attention to all the aspects that you discover – only those that will have a significant impact or are highly valued by your shareholders are enough.
Once you have identified the important environmental aspects of your system, you will begin to develop the criteria and controls needed to minimize their impact on the environment. This is perhaps the most important impact of your EMS: minimizing your company’s processes and outputs in the environment.
4- Goals and programs
Creating new plans for your business will help you set goals that will allow you to meet and maintain them.
Many companies that comply with ISO 9001 implement other standards to improve their organization. ISO 14001 easily integrates with the ISO structure, allowing you to use existing processes to improve the impact of your environment and achieve certification.