Grad Student Needs Help - General Motor's Requirement for ISO 14001

[EricD]

> Hi,
>
> My name is Eric. I am a grade student (environmental studies) in Canada.
> I am taking a course on ISO 14K certifications. I have to write a short essay
> which will overview the company "General Motors" and the fact that they have asked all their
> subcontrators to be certified ISO 14001 before december 2003. I really need
> advises and informations about the flow of work that all subcontrators had to
> go through to be certified. How thinks went? Did all subcontractors have the
> financial resources to get the ISO 14K certification? Did all subcontrators continue to supply GM? Did some subcontractors ask for a extension since they were a deadline (december 2003)
> If you could send me internet adresses, PDFs, or advices were to look on the Web I will be
> very thankful.
> Eric

[Randy]

Eric, I would be dishonest if I told you we could give you all of your answers...we can't. many of your answers can only be answered by GM or the suppliers themselves because the information is not published or may be considered proprietary in nature.

The flow towards registration, though never exactly the same, would be similar to this:

1) Decision to implement and seek registration is made

2) Someone is appointed to spreahead the project (known more often than not as the Management Representation)

3) An audit (sometimes called the Gap-analysis) is performed to determine the status of the organization against the requirements of ISO 14001:1996

4) System documentation is developed, training or personnel takes place, and all the necessary holes are filled based upon the information developed during the "Gap-analysis"

5) The organization determines they are ready for the "Registration Audit" ( a 2 stage process where the system documentation (Stage 1) is audited to verify that essential requirements (the 52 "shalls) have been addressed (we're looking at the "Design" of the system here); the next step is the audit of the system in operation (Stage 2) where it is determined whether or not the system as designed is meeting requirements and is effectively functioning.

6) The organization, if successful, achieves registration and starts maintaining and improving the system and its environmental performance.

7) Any deficiencies identified during the registration audit are corrected in such a fashion as they will not reoccur.

That's it in a nutshell. My explaniation may not be 100% in correct order and may be missing some minor points. You need to understand, the organizations that provide registration services have their own unique requirements that must be met and each organization seeking registration has their own unique approach with which to achieve it.

To get information from the organizations that provide registration services, we call them Registrars, go to www.rabnet.com (this is the US organization that has the oversight of the National Accreditation Program for ISO 14001 in the USA) in Canada it is www.scc.org (Standards Council of Canada). From these sites you will be able to locate the web pages for the various Registrars in both countries..

I'm sure more folks will jump in with additional information too.

Welcome to the Cove young man...keep asking questions because that's how you learn.