Implementing ISO 14001 In 12 Months

Has anyone out there already implemented ISO 14001? I am looking for some help.

We have about a dozen ISO14001 system audits under our belt. What help do you need?
Jon Shaver

[Marc]

Jon-

Do you use a correlation matrix combining ISO900x paragraph - ISO14000 paragraph - Company Procedure (or ther document)?

[This message has been edited by Marc Smith (edited 03-09-99).]

[Roger Eastin]

Welcome back, Jon! You've been missed. I hope you stick around for awhile!

aw shucks, guys. I've been involved in a lot of different things in past several mos so haven't been here much. I'm doing a lot of risk management work that relates to EMS.
This site is still the best qms/ems site on the web so I do check in now & again.
Marc - I'm not a big believer in correlation between 9000 and 14000. There are lots of reasons for this. Maybe 'cause I'm an engineer I'm more of a purist? I do recognize that qms people have an easier time of understanding 14000 if they can correlate with 9000 so have used this approach until the more prescriptive parts of 14000 kick in.
Jon

[Marc]

>Subject: Q: ISO 14000 time plan /Engum
>From: Kenneth L Engum - Engum_Kenneth_L@CAT.com
>
>One of our customers has requested us to have an environmental program that
>would be equal to ISO 14000 or better. With this memo the customer also asked
>us to supply them with an Environmental Time Plan. We have a time line plan
>for our ISO 9000 but we have not started into the ISO 14000 elements and
>have very little knowledge about the standards. Has anyone gone through this
>that would have some vague idea of an average time that may be required to get
>this written and implemented.

Subject: Re: Q: ISO 14000 time plan /Engum/Whitcomb
Date: Mon, 22 Nov 1999 09:53:21 -0600
From: ISO Standards Discussion - jennejohnn@UWSTOUT.EDU

From: Gary Whitcomb - gary_whitcomb@4funlsi.com

Ken:

We were certified to ISO 14000 in September 1997. We were certified to ISO 9000 in 1996 and recertified in 1999. Our certification efort to ISO 9000 took 18 months. Our certification to ISO 14000 took 12 months.

There are a couple of elements of ISO 14000 that can take time to do, and do right and from my experience wish we had done a better job of as we have spent time re-working and re-tooling. how we address the requirements. The first thing one has to recognize is the Environmental Policy. The writers of this didn't take into consideration that employees need something fairly easy to remember and the componenets of the policy need to be transmitted to the general employee population in ALL Departments, right down to the janitorial staff. The policy tends to be very wordy is my point, and it needs to be well thought out, and CAN be incorportated with your existing Mission or Quality Policy/Statement.

#2. What ever you say in your Environmetal Policy has to be measurable, and documented. If your policy says: " The safest in the industry" how are you measuring that; how do you know? The policy needs to be auditiable.

#3. Legal Requirements: There are federal, state and local requirements for any company, and these are auditied for in your certification audit. This will require you have any such requirements for these requirements up-to-date and can prove it. As we are a medium sized industry , we don't have a corporate leagl department, so we hired an Environmental Consultant company to help us be compliant to "regs". We need to show how we assure we are complaint.

I don't mean to say a company can't become registered to ISO 14000 in a shorter time period than 12 months, but there are some big differences between ISO 14000 and ISO 9000 that can not be addressed by gaining ISO 9000. I'll be happy to establish some conversation with you, without tying up this discusssion line. If you would like to contact me please feel free to do by using my e-mail address shown above.

[Randy]

There are alot of folks out there making more out of ISO 14000 than there really needs to be.

If you have an in house environmental department that is on the ball and not just drawing overinflated wages you should be 75% there already. There are all kinds of documentation, procedures, training and practices that are already outlined and required, they just need to be tied together with a good working management system.

Get a copy of ISO 14001 and read it from cover to cover.

Have somebody be designated the EMS Guru to coordinate, and start to work.

Write the Policy just like it is outlined in 4.2.

Keep YOUR system as simple as possible. Minimize the amout of documentation required within YOUR system. Have everyone from top to bottom buy in to YOUR system.

Pay particular attention to ASPECTS and IMPACTS (4.3.1).

Set "realistic & achievable" OBJECTIVES & TARGETS (4.3.3).

Make sure communication is maintained (4.4.3).

CHECK and Audit YOUR system and take CORRECTIVE ACTION (4.5).

Keep MANAGEMENT involved by using the REVIEW process (4.6).

It's not as complicated as it seems.

The people making money off of it just want it to seem so.

If you have questions contact me at my E-mail. It doesn't mean much but I am 14000 auditor and maybe I could help.

As usual, Randy is right on with his view. Suggest you start with goals & objectives & policy & then take as many parts of your 9000 system as possible (doc control, recordkeeping, mgmt review, & others) & see how they apply to what you want to do with your EMS. Make them apply.Use your management system & ignore whether it is QMS or EMS.
Then get a "gap analysis" to see what you need to do beyond the descriptive parts of a QMS. An EMS is far more specific.

Total time to build an EMS system into a QMS system should not exceed 6 months if your QMS is really working.
Jon

[This message has been edited by Jon Shaver (edited 23 November 1999).]

[This message has been edited by Jon Shaver (edited 23 November 1999).]